Do I have to grow up? : Through the portal part 2
by SpikeyGirl
Summary: General memo: Max should never be allowed to get drunk or go to Vegas, Laura and Itachi should just know better. Earth never saw this coming... Nor did anyone else or Max would never have been let near the Stargate in the first place. If someone knows how to get rid of the trouble magnetism, or at least turn it down, that would be greatly appreciated. Many Xovers & SEQUEL
1. Back on earth

La sequel ist here...

Don't ask, I think that was a bad mix of English, French and German.

--

_Japanese_

German

English

**Italian**

The journey was practically instantaneous and Max took her first step on Earth in 7ish years, she looked around absorbing everything and making sure it would be safe for the group, she closed her eyes and did a sweep of the floors using various setting, such as heat vision and the likes. She deemed it safe and held the radio up to her face.

"_This is Kage Ookami calling boss, other side of the puddle is not a threat, proceed as planed,_" she said making sure she was out of the way, a few seconds later the rest of them emerged each looking around in amazement at the concrete and the lights behind the window.

They were escorted to the medical bay for a check up and inoculations, Max had very nearly pegged it back and hidden but Tsunade had glared at her.

Doctor Lamb had checked them over and found nothing wrong, she had been a bit apprehensive over the scars on Max's back and had been inquisitive about how she got them. Max had just replied in her usual "I was doing my job" but got tutted at, Max practically ran out once her examination was over.

Behind her Tsunade and Doctor Lamb were discussing medical things with Laura translating, Laura was actually interested so didn't mind. The others who had escaped were heading over to the assigned rooms.

The next day everyone convened in the briefing room it was a bit crowded, only the people taking part in the treaty talks were seated and the guards were standing behind.

From Suna was Gaara with some elders, three ANBU and his sister, he had left Kankurou in charge. From Amestris was the FMA crew Roy and Maes were the negotiators with the others were guards and from Konoha was Tsunade and two elders with Max and Itachi as primary guards, the others were mainly for show of strength.

Max and Itachi were in their full uniform without cloaks to show the tattoos, bits of Max's scars were visible, Itachi had his Sharingan on which was visible through the eye holes as they basically glowed. Their masks were polished and their weapons were visible, Max's scythe looked particularly menacing.

Kakashi was wearing his ANBU uniform as well as he had been reinstated for this mission only. Kakashi ad Itachi flanked the Hokage while the others stood a bit back. Max was stood between the Hokage's group and Kazekage's groups ready to translate, she had skewed her mask so she could speak quietly.

Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, Neji, Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke all had masks but no particular animal, they also wore cloaks with the hoods down. They stood behind the people they were to protect. Akamaru was faithfully by Kiba's feet looking feral.

The president of the USA, two of his cronies and a bunch of SWAT looking people were sat across the table. The prime minister of England had two of his cronies and another bunch of SAS looking people next to them. The minister for magic had two more cronies, including the headmaster of Hogwarts (they could tell by the extremely long beard) and some Aurors were also on the other side. General Hammond sat at the head of the table with SG1 behind him.

"In front of you is a basic treaty from that we will be negotiating terms, does everyone understand" said Hammond, Max was translating for the Hokage and Kazekage groups while Laura was translating for the Roy and Maes, every one nodded.

"We would like to set up a small base of operations on your world so that we can learn more of your ways and have a safe back up base, in return we will allow some of your people to come to earth to learn about our culture and also teach you about some of our advancements in technology" said the president which was backed up by the prime minister, once again Max and Laura translated.

"_What about the man in the bowler hat with the ancient person next to him who are they any way?_" asked Tsunade, Max translated it into English for every ones sake.

"We are wizards. I am the Minister for Magic and this is headmaster Dumbledore. We are here to make sure there is no threat to our society and see what skill you have," said the man with the bowler hat.

"And what if there is a threat?" said Max before she could stop herself. Laura translated for both languages.

"You will be obliviated and sent back," was the pompous reply.

"This is assuming you can hit one of us, were ninjas trained in not getting hit"

"Now, now I think you got of on the wrong foot," placated the old man his eyes twinkling, "your skills could be of use to us, I understand you hire your selves out for jobs," he said Max and Laura tried so hard not to laugh, Max couldn't help but blurt out, "**That sounded so dirty,**" in Italian since it was only understood by herself and Laura maybe Jackson.

"So maybe in the contract we could be allowed to hire you for a price that would be dependent on the job, it would only be for protection missions of information gathering though," the old man continued as Max and Laura continued to translate. There was a silent pause as the leader thought this over each one eventually nodding. It would be a good source of income.

The negotiating went on for hours but finally they came to and agreement, Max and Laura had been quick to point out flaws so the villages would benefit.

Most of them had gone straight back to their residence after the meeting finished. Max was with Tsunade who had wanted to go to the medical bay to have another chat which Max would have to translate. They were on their way back to their quarters when the old man confronted them.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, I request a mission for a group of your ninja to protect a boy, money is no object," said the old man Max translated quickly.

"_Ok I will hear you request_" said Tsunade. 'Hear but not necessarily agree to.' She thought as Max once again translated.

"I need a group of ninja; they will be going to Hogwarts to protect a boy, they need to be between 11 and about 14 by the summer. The mission will last for a school year and may be needed for a few years after but they will have a break between years. You will be paid half at the beginning of each year and half at the end. Payment will be and appropriate amount of gold and silver," explained the headmaster, Max translated her hopes were soaring, she wanted to go on this mission it would be awesome.

"_I assume not every one is a wizard so why chose us,_" asked Tsunade.

"From what I have observed the energy they use is spiritual energy which for them is magic but they don't have any physical energy so it's only magic not chakra which is why they use wands to make up for the physical energy side. It's also why not all people can use chakra, they don't have the spiritual energy or magic genes," said Max then repeated into Japanese for Tsunade.

She knew it was just a wild guess but it was entirely plausible. Both nodded and decided to negotiate terms. Poor Max got stuck translating until she snapped.

"You're a wizard don't you have a spell to translate?" she half yelled. Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a second them nodded.

"If you would ask for permission," he prompted and Max complied, Tsunade nodded and then voila they could understand each other and Max didn't have to translate. They continued talking, ironing out the details. To Max it seemed to be like a load of fan fictions where the ninjas would get hired to protect Harry Potter. Dumbledore and Tsunade agreed to meet again tomorrow to write up the contract and each headed their own ways after Dumbledore lifted the translating spell. Back in Tsunade room she turned to Max.

"_You seem to know a lot more about this place than I do so I need your advice for this,_" she said, Max was glad she hadn't asked how.

"_I would recommend it, not only does it pay well but the ninjas will learn new things that they can teach people back home and protect the village better,_" said Max with a shrug.

"_Max you will be reinstated as ANBU again for this mission as Ookami. You're the team leader with Ryuu and you'll be taking some genin. On this mission you will be as two people, you ANBU self and your genin self use a clone for one of them, you seem to know more about this that anyone else does so you'll be the primary team leader,_" Tsunade ordered.

"_Ok. I suggest Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Ino. I would ask for the rest of Neji's team but Lee cant use chakra and Tenten relies to heavily on weapons, Choji would stick out a bit to much while his team mates would be useful, Ino can use the mind techniques, if it's needed, and Shikamaru can use the shadows. The others are kind of obvious. If I can, at least Gaara and Temari from sand and Laura due to her ability to __analyse__ things, Gaara could take a sabbatical from Kazekage work._"

"_I'll have to ask about the sand siblings. Don't you want to take your team_?"

"_Why would I want to do that, they might __recognise__ me, they may know I was ANBU but they didn't know my code name and if Sasuke finds out who my partner is there will be trouble that I don't want to deal with_"

"_Take your team. And stop pouting. If Sasuke finds out I am __authorising__ you to tell him the secret. I also ask you to take Sakura with you so she can learn about the medic side of wizardry._" Max was inwardly cursing; Sakura was going to be annoying and Tsunade might get annoyed if Sakura accidentally died.

A week passed and everything was sorted. In the summer they would go to England to prepare for the mission but until then Hammond had agreed to let SG1 take them around the USA, so the could get used to Earth. They all had passports through connections at the Pentagon so it would all be legal and they had sealed all their weapons in scrolls.

First up was buying new clothes, they had quite a large budget from the government so they could chose a few outfits. Max was in heaven, back in Konoha there weren't malls and no jeans or anything she used to wear. By the end of the trip the group was happy.

Laura had mainly blues and greens with some band tees and spiky belts. Max had mainly black, red and silver or white along with some spiky belts and band hoodies and some jeans. The others had followed their example and they had made Naruto only get one orange item. Even after all this time it was his favorite colour. By this time they didn't stick out so much and blended in a bit.

The next few weeks were spent going across America. What had been really funny was when they had gone to Las Vegas, henged into people in their mid twenties and gone gambling. Naruto had nearly cleaned the house out with his luck before they kicked them out, so funding for the rest of the trip was no problem.

Max had wandered off for some time alone and came across a dead body, being careful to avoid touching it she backed away and rejoined the group.

One of the nights they had gone to the nearest shop and bought all the caffeinated drinks they could and headed to the nearest park. It was so funny since everyone was hyper.

All too soon they were on an aeroplane to England. Max and Laura were excited to be going back to the country of their birth, well as near as possible with out going to their real dimension. They got to the airport in England and argued over what to do.

"I want to go shopping"

"We should familiarise ourselves with this place"

"I'm hungry"

"I need to pee," commented Laura.

"We really needed to know that," said Max.

"Yes everyone wants to know about your peeing habits," added Kiba.

"Of course they do everyone loves knowing about my peeing habits, it's the highlight of the day," was the dramatic reply from Laura.

In the end they decided to spit into a few groups and meet up at Diagon alley in a few hours.

Max and Laura decided to go to Surrey, to where they used to live. Itachi tagged along otherwise the others might have driven him nuts.

They went to where Max would have lived first and saw in the window her four siblings and her parents sitting around the table eating and laughing. There was no sign of a fifth child, apparently she didn't exist in this world. She didn't know what hurt more, the fact they were fine without her or if in her world it would have been better if she hadn't been around. She was regretting coming already.

At where Laura would have lived they saw her parents and her little brother still alive, apparently she didn't exist either. Itachi was just confused he didn't understand why they were here but hey, most of what they did made little sense.

They made their way back to London to meet with the others and spent the night in the Leaky Cauldron ready to go to Hogwarts for their final briefing in the morning.

--

Slightly edited after I noticed something wrong

Many crossovers to come


	2. Diagon Alley

Slightly edited due to some continuity issues far in the future of this story and bad spelling/grammar.

--

By the time the sun rose all of the ninjas had been up for at least an hour and had eaten. Max sat staring at a wall, she had managed to get less sleep than the rest of them.

(Last night)

Max had been wandering around London, she had been walking around for ages, she hadn't been able to sleep and walking took her mind of things. She had changed into some jeans and a tee shirt, a black with white vine patterned bandana around her wrist and combat boots. The shop she had got them from only just had them in her size. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings much but so far had been lucky not to walk into anything.

To say she was surprised when she walked into someone would be understated. She looked at the person she had walked into to see a young blond guy of about 14. He had just walked out of a bank and these things had set of warning bells in her mind.

"Sorry I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologised keeping her head down and continued walking.

"It's fine. Aren't you a bit young to be walking around on your own?" the boy asked. Max cursed in her head as she pause in her stride, she still looked ten. Normal she would have put a Henge on to make her look older not just to cover her ears.

"I look young for my age, besides I could say the same about you"

"I can handle myself," he said as he went stepped down of the pavement to call a taxi. Max heard the tell tale crack of a gun and reacted moving her arm in front of him, an instinct that she thought she had suppressed, the bullet hit glanced off the underside of it. It continued into the boys chest but Max's arm had deflected it down so it pierced his lung lower than the heart. The boy crumpled and Max caught him laying him down so she could do what she was able to. She kept talking to him to keep him awake, just like she had learnt in a first aid course in the other universe.

"Keep awake. What's your name?"

"Alex"

"I'm Max, where do you live?" she pressed her hands on the wound to stem the blood flow; she wished she had remembered a jacket or something. Then she remembered her bandana and she folded it up to press on the wound. She had ignored her own cut from the bullet because she knew it would heal quickly.

"Chelsea," he replied weakly.

"Like the football team? Come on, keep with me. Who do you live with?"

"My house keeper, Jack." She could tell he was struggling to keep awake. Some people had come out of the building and were calling an ambulance. It arrived soon and the boy was taken away. Max was approached by a woman in a business suit.

"I'm Mrs Jones; where are your parents? I need you to come with me to answer some questions."

Max did the only thing she could in the current situation, look scared and run. She was careful not to run full speed but it wasn't really slow, until she was out of sight at least then she practically disappeared at the speed she was running.

She made it back to the inn in no time at all. In her head another story was ticked of the list, she had met Alex Rider.

The rest of the night Max spent star gazing with Gaara. She never knew how much she had missed the stars from Earth; the familiar constellations sparkled down at them.

The morning had come and the twelve of them were ready to floo to Hogwarts for their briefing. They were in their normal ninja gear with masks only Max and Itachi were in ANBU uniform. They had had their masks on or a Henge since they had gotten to Earth. Most of the ninjas had been apprehensive of the way of transport but Max had shown it was fine. She had made a clone to start her double life/job.

In the headmasters office they were greeted by an office devoid of human life with a bird on a perch. A door near the back opened and the headmaster entered the office and sat in his chair.

"You have been selected by the Hokage for the mission then?" he asked. Max, being team leader, was their spokes person.

"Yes"

"You mission is generally to look out for the students wellbeing but mainly after one particular boy. Hogwarts will be protecting something of great importance so that will be a secondary objective. You have been picked because you will be enrolled as students. Your cover story will be your school exploded by an accident so you were separated and transferred to other magical schools"

"_Do we have to wear the uniforms? They would interfere with our abilities,_" asked Ino. Max translated, Dumbledore seemed to think for a bit.

"Your point is a good one but I ask you wear at least the robes for the special occasions, I also have a bracelet for you to wear so you can understand English," he said offering them up as Max translated. They took them except max and Laura who already understood. They asked a few questions and got their answers. They were escorted to their temporary rooms by a sour professor Snape. Max and Itachi had been kept behind to get some of the finer details.

"Oh and you will be joined by Edward Elric and Roy Mustang. Roy will be teaching basic alchemy and Edward will be joining the year and try too keep students away from the third floor corridor. Also allow Harry to explore a bit during time he may not be supposed too."

"Ok," said Max cutting of anything that Itachi would say. She had a plan. And she had a way of justifying it. The contract said to protect Harry Potter at all costs and that's what they would do, whether it's from trolls or manipulative headmasters didn't matter. They left the room to find the others. Now alone Dumbledore was musing to himself

"This is going well. Not only will I have Harry under my control but the ninjas will become allies and when the battle comes the will have little choice but to help." Gone was the old man persona and in its place was a manipulative man. Unfortunately for him under Max's request Shino had left a bug in there to spy on him. Paranoia wasn't always a bad thing.

They went to their rooms and had a small meeting but not before moving all of the portraits from the room. Each of them understood what was going on and what they would do. None of them like being manipulated and manipulating a child who they had put in an abusive household was a big black mark in their books.

Max was wandering around in her normalish form, familiarising herself with the castle with Laura when they bumped into everyone's favourite potions master

"Watch where you're going," snapped Snape.

"I was, I just wasn't paying much attention," said Max.

"Don't get smart with me"

"I get smart perfectly well on my own. Hey, you're one of the teachers, what do you teach?" Laura asked eagerly.

"Potions… why?"

"You teach glorified cooking!" Both 11 year old burst out laughing, no amount of glaring stopped them. When they had composed themselves Snape didn't look happy.

"I'll have you know potions is more than just cooking it includes understanding the ingredients and why things happen"

"It's kind of like chemistry," mused Max.

"What would you two know about chemistry, I though in the muggle world they didn't teach chemistry until they were about 13, whereas you two are barely eleven"

"We're very intelligent pains in the backside, we could do a GCSE in chemistry and pass with top marks that's the equivalent of an O at OWL level, we also started on AS which is like the first year of NEWTS"

"I expect you two to excel in my class then"

"You can guarantee it." They continued heir conversation for a while; it appeared Snape wasn't as bad as they thought.

The next day they were in Diagon alley picking up their stuff. They had changed into their casual clothes and only Max and Itachi had masks on but a Henge covered that fact.

They went to Gringotts and got in a queue but when they got to the front the goblin was sleeping. Looking at the man who had just left it want hard to see why, he looked like a stuffy man.

Max leant over the desk to shake the sleeping goblin he suddenly wakes and she quickly withdraws her hand accidentally catching a spike used for magical identification. The scroll in front of the goblin listed a vault. Vault two, belonging to Morgan le Fay. The goblins eyes shot out and he quickly summoned a higher authority.

"Aw great, I can't go anywhere without doing something big," complained Max. The rest tried but not much happened until it was Laura time and it came up with vault three belonging to Circe the enchantress.

They went to the vault and grabbed a load of money in a money bag and looked at the other contents of the vault. There were a few books which Max flipped through which gave her an insight into how this happened.

"According to my research Morgan le Fay along with Circe decided to leave earth so they traveled through a portal and was never heard of again, they came to my home planet and meet the natives. They were proficient at martial arts; they taught each other when they discovered combining the physical energy and spirit energy created a source of power called chakra. Over the years they developed its uses into attacks and became what we know as ninjas and ninjutsu most of the ninjas are descended from her but at some point a group split off, they were alchemists and made their own way of life far away so that's where the alchemist come from," summarized Max, another thing to blame education for, she could skim read something picking out the important aspects like she had during lessons when she planed on not paying attention.

They took a few items, a few gems, some weapons, a few spell books some interesting looking ingredients in stasis vials and other miscellaneous items like the inheritance rings to prove they were the heirs. As soon as they were back in the alley they split the money up and agreed to meet back in two hours.

Max and Laura walked it Flourish and Blotts with their money bags and immediately set to work scowering the shelves for anything of interest. So into the basket went quite a lot of books mainly ones on offensive and defensive magic and on Animagus forms, remembering it from their original lives when they had read the books.

They went to the apothecary Max recoiling in horror at the smell but barely showing it, after getting the basic ingredients they discreetly asked about muggle chemicals, remembering some of the more interesting ones from a short A-level taster course in Chemistry they'd attended. They were led to the back room and shown a large collection of chemicals.

They picked out a large selection in their heads all the possibilities were exploding.

They got their stationary which is where they bumped into Harry and Hagrid.

"Are you going to Hogwarts too? I'm Max by the way and this is Laura," asked Max despite the fact she knew the answer.

"Yes. I'm Harry"

"I can't wait, hey do you think Hagrid would let you come shopping with us it would be better with people your own age"

"I'd have to ask." He disappeared for a bit and came back with Hagrid in tow. He took one look and agreed, Dumbledore had informed him about the ninjas.

"Cool, so what have you got already?" Things went swimmingly from then Harry seemed very quite and reminded them of Hinata before they got her to come out of her shell.

They went to the robe shop next they still needed cloaks. Inside they saw Draco getting fitted.

"Are you Hogwarts to?" he asked, they nodded.

"My mothers looking at books and my fathers looking at ingredients, what about you"

"My parents are dead," said Harry.

"I don't know about mine, I haven't seen them since I was three" said Laura.

"Same," added Max.

"Your parent were _our kind_ right"

"You're asking the direct descendant of Morgan le Fay?" said Max, Draco looked impressed. Laura just sighed at the blatant showing off. Max was looking for potential allies for later.

"My parents were wizards too," said Harry.

"I really don't know but most of the people from where were from are magical but as far as I know being a descendant of Circe makes me pretty good," said Laura.

"Which house do you think you'll be in? I do hope I'm in Slytherin," said Draco, trying to kept the conversation going.

"I wouldn't mind, it may have a bad reputation but it isn't all that bad," commented Max.

"What do you mean by house?" asked Harry meekly.

"At Hogwarts there are four houses when you get there you get sorted into one of them, there are Gryffindor the brave, Hufflepuff the loyal, Ravenclaw the smart, and Slytherin the cunning, none are perfect and none are evil," explained Laura.

"Yeah, the Gryffindor are arrogant and headstrong. The Hufflepuff are generally not as brash but more meek. The Ravenclaw have a superiority complex as in; if you aren't smart we don't want to know and finally Slytherin are just considered evil and sly," Max added her two cents.

"Let me guess your going to be Ravenclaw," supposed Draco.

"Nope like I said Slytherin for me"

"How about we make a bet on it if I win and your in Ravenclaw then you have to do my homework for a week of my choosing"

"If I win then you have to be my slave for a week of my choosing"

"What about if she's in another house like Hufflepuff, she is really loyal," added Laura wanting in on this bet.

"She could be Gryffindor, being brave to accept the bet," said Harry.

"How about this who ever wins gets the others to do something for a week of their choosing," proposed Laura.

"Why just me? Why not where someone else is going to end up?"

"You started it," said Harry pointing the obvious.

"Fine," Max said as they shook in a four way hand shake. This is how Draco's parents found them.

"I do hope you aren't associating with muggleborns"

"At least I'm not so inbred I have six toes per foot," retorted Max.

"Ah touché, I am Lucius Malfoy of the ancient and noble house of Malfoy," said Mr. Malfoy smirking at her.

"I am Max Hakie of Konoha, descendant of Morgan le Fay the enchantress and these are my friends, Harry Potter of the ancient and noble house of Potter and Laura Hakie of Konoha descendant of Circe the enchantress" replied Max.

"Wait, what about me being of a noble house?" asked Harry confused, the others gasped.

"To the bank!" declared Max and they trouped of to show him. They got it all sorted out but unfortunately there was nothing declaring Sirius' innocence.

Next they went to the broomstick shop because Draco dragged them.

"Why would we be interested in a game that involves balls and hoops and broomsticks, it sound dirty and wrong" said Laura the two boys just looked confused.

"_They're only 11 remember,_" pointed out Max. By the end of the visit they knew everything there was to know about Quidditch.

Last stop was Ollivanders; the group piled in and watched as the old man appeared between them and the counter.

Wands:

Shikamaru – shadow wood - tail hair of the laziest unicorn he had ever met, 10 inches.

Kiba - oak - dragon heartstring, 9 and half inches.

Ino – beech - ground up basilisk eye juice, 11 and a half inches.

Sakura – redwood – banshee vocal cord, 8 and a half inches. Some of the group had to cover their ears as a pitch only heard by animals was emitted with the discovery of her wand.

Naruto – mahogany – mythical fox, 9 inches.

Sasuke – hawthorn – ash winder ash, 9 inches.

Shino – maple – spider leg, 9 and two third inches.

Max – ash – chimera scale, 10 plus pi (13.14159 etc) inches, Ollivander sighed as he reminisced making the wand.

Laura – pine – kelpie's mane, 7 and one fifth inches.

Itachi – ebony - ground up dragon fang, 10 and three quarter inches.

Neji – alder – demiguise hair, 11 and a third inches.

Hinata – willow – young unicorn fur, 12 inches. She also managed to set fire to the glass window some how.

The rest were normal (from the books)

Once again they headed back to the leaky caldron. Harry went with Hagrid to Privet Drive despite their protests. Draco went home but they promised to meet up on the train. Max and the rest of them described their experiences and how wizards were stupidly backwards.

Naruto wouldn't shut up about broomsticks until Max hit him round the back of the head with a mysteriously appearing frying pan. Max spent the night on the roof talking to Gaara until she fell asleep from exhaustion. Itachi had gone up to make sure they were alright and ended up talking to Gaara, with Max between them, until the sun came up.

--

Who's up for a train ride?


	3. I'm on a train

I'm beginning to realise just how awful my punctuation really was, how did you guys put up with it?

--

Max really didn't want to get onto that train; she didn't fear them they just made her sick if she paid to much attention. Her clone however had no problems. She had decided for the journey she would be her normal self but switch at random points. Her clone would look older and defiantly taller.

Laura for some reason loved trains. They had gotten to the station early to scope out the train for potential risks. They grabbed carriages while there were some around each one held about eight people unless they were extremely obese. Ed had joined them; Roy was already at the castle.

About half an hour before the train was due to leave Max decided she was hungry so went to grab some doughnuts. Sasuke had followed along with Naruto, Gaara and Shikamaru.

They found a Krispy Kreme's nearby and got a few packs of twelve, glazed or assorted. On the way back they had made a detour to grab some caffeinated drinks. They barley made it back in time and had to search for a new compartment since some seventh years had taken theirs. They found one with Harry in. Max had changes back to her ANBU persona, she had been switching every hour and this hour was ANBU time.

Max, Gaara, Shikamaru, Ed, Sasuke and Naruto looked inside a compartment with one person in, it just so happened to be Harry.

"Can we sit here?" asked Max her mask firmly in place. It wouldn't do to be recognized.

"Sure" he moved his stuff and the group sat down.

"I'm Ookami, this is Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Edward Elric, Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara of the desert," Max introduced pointing at each of them in turn.

"I'm Harry, why do you wear a mask?"

"It's part of my culture." They chatted aimlessly for a while. The train had started moving and Max had quieted down a bit trying to ignore her stomach that was protesting. Maybe those doughnuts hadn't been such a good idea.

The door opened and Laura's face peered in.

"Ookami, Ino wants to talk to you"

"Why?" asked Max, she didn't want to move in case it made her anymore sick.

"No idea but she's yelling at everyone so can you please come quick"

"Fine, make sure no one takes my seat" she said to the others before leaving with Laura they got the compartment most of the girls were inhabiting.

"Ok what's the crisis?"

"Some red head guy came here and started insulting us then he called Ino a prissy airhead. He kept boasting about how we should look up to him as he's going to be Harry Potter's best friend"

"I'll go ki- I mean tell him off," said Max and with that she left and headed up the train, she couldn't find him and made her way back to the carriage only to find just the person she was looking for… in her seat.

"What are you doing in my seat" asked Max, her friends noticed her annoyance.

"I don't see your name on it"

"That may be true but my trunks above it causing it to mean I clamed this seat first so get your podgy ass out of it" Max smirked behind her mask as Ron flushed red.

"No, you're probably a death eater with that mask"

"Death eater masks are plain white with a slight skull appearance, whereas mine is in the style of a wolf, in case you're too blind to notice. Besides I'm only in my teens, why would I be a death eater?" Max hadn't decided on a fixed age for her ANBU persona.

"Why do you have a mask then?"

"If it were your business you would know." She saw Ron go even redder if the was even possible as he tried to think up a reply.

"This is a boys compartment we don't want you here"

"Do these people agree? I know for a fact most won't because I've known most of them since they were small." Behind Max, Draco and his two apes oh sorry… um… cronies, nah… uh… friends and I use that term very loosely, came to the door.

"Is it true Harry Potter's in this compartment?"

"Yes but pick on the Weasley it's funnier" said Max glaring at Ron.

"It's amazing he managed to find somewhere to sit, you'd have thought he would have been kicked out with all the insulting he's done up and down the train" said Draco, who smirked as Ron's ears went red.

"You're just the son of a death eater"

"Hey don't insult my friend" interrupted Harry. Ron just looked in shock.

"Your going dark he's placed you under a spell!" the red head screeched. It was obvious that his balls hadn't dropped, painfully obvious.

"So whose turn is it?" asked Max, oblivious to Ron's ranting.

"I believe it was Naruto's" yawned Shikamaru.

"No I did it last time I think its Shikamaru's turn"

"What are you talking about?" asked Harry.

"Whose turn it is to kick out an annoying kid" explained Naruto .

"Hey, tell you what since Shika is to lazy ill drag him out. Blond guy you can have my seat I need to be somewhere now" suggested Max looking at Draco. The others nodded and Max grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him to the other end of the train and locked him in an empty compartment.

She then switched with her other self and became Max again, she went hunting along compartments and found the one her ANBU partner was in, also in the compartment were two red haired twins and a boy with dreadlocks.

"Can I sit here" she asked then she noticed the spider, "whoa that things huge where did you get it its adorable" she missed the three boys exchanging a look.

"Sure you can sit here, I'm Fred and this is George and this is Lee, we don't know who the masked person is because he wouldn't talk" introduced Fred.

"Don't worry about it he's just a bit antisocial I don't know his real name but his code name is Ryuu, his partners around somewhere and her code name is Ookami. Her mask is a wolf so it won't be too hard to recognize her. Oh and I'm Max. Well Maxine but anyone who calls me that gets a face full of pain" said Max as she sat in one of the corners. She didn't miss the hidden smirk under her teammates mask.

"So you guys are probably in a different year to me, I'm only a first year"

"We have two successful years of pranking under out belts and are going for a third"

"You prank too, awesome, I love pranks but the one I remember most is when I managed to get my entire class drunk in an experiment gone wrong, it let ethanol in a vapor into the room and no one noticed for ages" things went swimmingly from then.

When the snack trolley came around Max looked at some of it and decided to try a blood pop despite everyone suggesting against it. Five seconds later she requested more because of the metallic taste which was nice and the fact she no longer felt travel sick.

The chocolate frog had been funny as one had tried to escape but ended up impaled on a kunai. It had been so fast none of the three pranksters noticed who it was and Max just blamed Itachi.

She switched with her clone several times and wandered around the compartments to make herself known. She had returned to Harry's compartment briefly and had laughed at the expression on their faces as she removed the blood pop from her mouth. To make it easier she had moved her mask so it was a bit skewed and she could easily put the lollypop in her mouth. Most of her face was still covered but it was easier to eat now.

Ages later the train came to a stop. Max had left while the trio had changed but since she wasn't required to wear it she just wandered the corridor for a bit.

Along with the others she followed Hagrid to the boats and got one with Laura, Harry and Draco. Her clone had hitched a ride on one of the thestral drawn carriages.

Finally they entered the great hall after meeting the ghosts.

"As some of you may have noticed the first years are in a greater number this year and there are two new second years. This is because this year we are hosting some students from a school in Japan which had a tragic accident in which they were forced to separate the students and some were sent here. Treat them as you would any other student but use caution, in their school they not only learn magical dueling but physical as well so it would be unwise to antagonize them one will." All the ninjas were wondering if he always understated things. McGonagall came in with a three legged stool and a ragged hat and started calling out names.

(I'm not going through all of the ones from the book)

Aburame Shino - /Hmm your different HOLY MOTHER OF MERLIN what the… I will not scream… gaaah so many bugs/

Who knew the hat was afraid of bugs…

"Slytherin." If the hat could it would be twitching.

Elric Edward - /I haven't seen an alchemist in years and I know where to put you with your thirst for knowledge/

"Ravenclaw"

Hakie Laura - /What do we have here, a dimension traveler with a good intelligence and a very strange mind/

"Ravenclaw"

Hakie Maxine -

"MY NAME IS MAX" growled Max.

/another dimension traveler, what's behind this door/

The hats scream echoed through the entire hall.

/_Did you _have_ to scream in my ear_/ moaned Max mentally.

/It's not my fault you didn't warn me about the fact there is a massive wolf in your mind/

/W_hat was I suppose to say? 'Oh by the way I have a massive demon wolf in my head but don't worry it's harmless'/_

/I suppose I need to sort you. Lets see; you're brave, sticking up for your friends, you're loyal to your village, you're intelligent but forgetful and you're very cunning, what's this here?/

/_That would be somewhere else you don't want to see_/

/I need to I just want to be prepared this time/

/_Nothing can prepare you for what's in there it's all my memories of my missions and battles_/ the hat still opened that door and the result was instantaneous.

"SLYTHERIN!" Before Max took of the hat she gave it some advice.

/_I'm not the only one with a tenant and most of these people have killed so I'm not the only one_/ Max then leapt of the stool and pointed at Laura, Draco and harry some how seeing as they are almost all separate

"Ha you all owe me, I won the bet and you all suck!" Then she calmly walked over to the table decked in silver and green

Haruno Sakura - /Well your really loyal to your crush and your somewhat intelligent/

"Hufflepuff"

Hyuuga Hinata - "Gryffindor"

Hyuuga Neji - "Ravenclaw"

Inuzuka Kiba - "Gryffindor"

Nara Shikamaru - "Ravenclaw"

Sabaku no Gaara - /not another one how many demon containers are there/ the hat failed to notice sand trailing in until if finally yelled out Gaara's house

"Slytherin"

Sabaku no Temari - "Slytherin"

Uchiha Sasuke - "Slytherin"

Uzumaki Naruto - /Please say you're the last demon container/ The hat did a double take /I though your demon was a fox not a rabbit on steroids/

"Gryffindor"

Yamanaka Ino - "Hufflepuff"

The sorting had finally finished and Dumbledore stood not quite as pleased at the amount of ninjas in Slytherin.

"The Japanese school has also sent over two guards to keep and eye on their students but have agreed to look out for general dangers. Ryuu and Ookami will be around, despite the fact there are only two of them they will be more than capable."

During this speech Max had switched with her clone to become ANBU once more with Itachi and they both shushined to the platform at the front seemingly appearing out of no where both had weapons on show and looked deadly. Dumbledore finished giving out notices and the food appeared.

The feast was soon over and everyone headed to their common rooms. In the Slytherin common room they were shown to their rooms, unlike Gryffindor they weren't separated into dorms but each had one or two room mates but each year group had a girl bathroom and a boy's bathroom to share and all the rooms were along a corridor.

Since Temari was new and so there weren't any spare spaces in the second year areas she ended up sharing with Max. Opposite their room were Sasuke, Shino and Gaara. Draco with his two friends was next to them. To stop the guys going into the girl's rooms they had enchantments on the doors so only a girl could open them. It allowed more interaction and the boys had a nasty reaction if they tried to enter a girls room.

--

Next time:

Max and Naruto remember why they ended up skiping most of the academy

Laura decides that mucking around with chemicals are fun until you get caught and have to clear up the mess

Gaara muses the meaning of life

and everyone wonders why Max turns up to any lesson sucking on a blood pop


	4. First day and Halloween

I also noticed an excess of 'i's in my authors notes instead of 'I'...

--

Before Max got to the great hall she was ambushed by the twins. She was grateful for the baseball cap. She had gotten it because of the magic floating around in the air mucked around with her Henge and so she needed more concentration than before and getting ambushed like that would have caused her Henge to falter.

It was a black hat with the words 'Never say die' in silver and her normal black jeans and boots with a tee shirt with the words 'You're only young once... you can be immature forever.' Laura had seen that and burst out laughing just for the fact they had been young twice but still immature, so Max ended up getting it when they had been shopping.

"So you're a Slytherin…" There was a pregnant pause before she was hugged by them.

"Now it's going to be so much easier to prank because they won't suspect you, you aren't a brash Gryffindor"

"Talking of pranks I need to do something," said Laura who had been walking past. They got to the great hall and sat down, Laura took out a rubber band and hooked it around her left thumb and forefinger. Then she got out a large oily shard of metal and put it between her fingers on the rubber band, she took aim and released the band.

The projectile flew through the air into Quirrell's goblet which promptly exploded. Max had recognised the projectile and taken cover and most of the ninjas had copied and some other people so they weren't covered in the resulting explosion. Laura pumped her arm in triumph. Operation 'sodium at breakfast' was a success. Unfortunately the teachers noticed and she got detention.

First lesson was potions so Max ran, she didn't want to miss a second. Inside Snape proceeded to pick on Harry which Max scowled at, it reminded her of why she and Naruto would skip the academy; because some of the teachers were gits. Max had ended up partnered with Draco and Harry was with Naruto.

"Sir, aren't we supposed to be learning, not taunting people," suggested Max, the entire class gasped and turned to her.

"Fine, since you seem to think your better than me. What happens if you add moonstone to firemint"

"Like an acid base reaction they would neutralise each other creating a neutralised solution and a compound in muggle chemistry it would be a salt"

"What are the properties of dihydrogen monoxide?"

"It kills people if inhaled, symptoms of ingestion include heavy sweating and excess urination, when in a gaseous form can cause burns, and is a major substance in acid rain"

"That sounds really dangerous I bet its one of her poisons," whispered Ron loudly on the other side of the room to which Max stage whispered back.

"It's water, numskull"

"Why has no one written this down?" snapped Snape.

"You didn't tell them to," said Max, she got a glare for her troubles. She guessed if she hadn't been in Slytherin she would be drowned in detention and her house would have no points.

Naruto was trying to stifle his giggles; he knew Max had a problem with school in any shape or form. Behind Max, Gaara and Sasuke had ended up partners and they were wondering how long until Max broke their teacher. Also, unseen to everyone Itachi was in a corner wondering the same thing; the current record was three minutes when Yuri had become their genin teacher. Max remembered that too and sobered up a bit out of her insolent faze. It didn't last though.

"Stay after class!" The whole class gasped, rumour was he had never told a Slytherin to stay behind.

"Ok." The unseen figure was shaking his head, he didn't know of a force in the world that scared Max. This teacher was an amateur compared to some people who had tried. The class was set to making a simple potion to get rid of boils. Snape would wander around scaring random students into making mistakes.

"You do know you aren't allowed too wear hats in class," he sneered at Max. Max just returned the glare and without a word got up and left, leaving Snape dumbfounded as well as most of the class. She returned five minutes later holding a piece of paper

"Ok here is written permission saying I can wear it signed by the headmaster," said Max showing it to him

"What are you doing?" he asked as Max added a few miscellaneous items.

"Adding a few catalysts to speed up the creation process"

"Is it on the board?"

"No, do you have nose cancer?"

"What!?!" That was the closest anyone had seen him to exploding.

"Do you have nose cancer?"

"What's nose cancer?"

"It's a disease muggle discovered its something that hinders some of the proteins in the cells so effectively they don't know not to keep reproducing so they take up more space and form lumps, but since you nose is basically a lump it just made it bigger. I thought since your nose is quite big then maybe you have nose cancer." Max was oblivious to the fact Snape was glaring at her and the entire class was watching.

The end of the lesson came and Max was ready to high tail it out of the class room until she found the door closed and almost collided with it. Then she slipped on a patch of slime and did hit the door.

"I thought I asked you to stay behind"

"And I have… so can I go now?"

"This is the kind of cheek that got you into this mess"

"What mess, I see no mess" said Max looking around innocently.

"Don't be so insolent"

"Last time someone said that to me they ended up in a bit of pain," said Max remembering the time she had been captured. Then any time she had been captured. Good times, she smiled in rememberance.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No I'm informing you of something random"

"Just get out of my sight and don't be so bad-mannered, next time it will be detention."

Max practically flew out of the room. She ran to transfiguration and got their just in time but once again got asked to stay behind. She couldn't think why she had gotten her work done and while the needle had ended up embedded in the desk across the room no one had been injured. It was like a sebon and years of training didn't help.

"Jeez I've only been here a day and I'm already in trouble with two different teachers," she groaned.

"I don't like your attitude in my class"

"What's wrong with it?"

"My class is for working in not mucking around"

"I got my work done didn't I, so what's the problem?"

"You need to respect things not charge on head first and make mistakes"

"And that would be what she said," Max couldn't resist adding the innuendo, McGonagall's lips were so pursed they were practically nonexistent. Max took her chance and left.

Her next lesson was charms she pulled a blood pop out of her pocket and put it in her mouth as she realised she would be late at this rate, grinning she grabbed a random suit of amours shield and with a running jump she leapt onto the banister and using the shield as a board she slid down the banisters. She passed some stragglers on her way down and stopped at the charms corridor propping the shield against a wall and walking into the classroom sucking her blood pop.

Everyone turned to watch her; she cursed who ever decided to put Slytherin with Gryffindor as Ron piped up about the lollypop, causing Flitwick to notice.

"Miss Hakie we don't eat during lessons." Max shrugged and removed it showing the class what she had been eating by proxy.

"She's an evil vampire!" Max rolled her eyes, Ron was so predictable.

"Oh look at the sunlight coming through the window and landing on me, oh look I'm not dying in a ball of flames or sparkling, I'm not dead either, or at least I wasn't last time I checked." She poked herself a few times and frowned.

"Well whadaya know I am dead, but I'm still moving so I probably am a vampire. Go figure." With that she walked to an empty seat and at down, Ron was just gaping like a fish. The class was pretty normal, well except Max and Ron spent the whole lesson trading insults, while Flitwick had gone to sort out Peeves who was terrorizing the halls and wouldn't stop, people taking bets on who would snap first. Someone had even started commentating.

"I know what your doing, creature," sneered Ron.

"Yes, I'm sitting here insulting you"

"You've put them under a mind altering spell"

"Have you noticed I'm only 11? I wouldn't be able to do that"

"Vampires look young," said Ron still glaring.

"They also can't walk around in sunlight yet here I am"

"You don't fool me I'm to smart for you mind games"

"I don't expect to fool you, I expect to make a fool out of you and so far I'm succeeding"

"Yea well you're short"

"You have red hair, isn't being able to see nice"

"You look like a 6 year old"

"And your IQ is 6"

"Is not"

"Your right it's minus 6"

"Is not"

"Minus 7?"

"No, it's really high"

"Who told you that? They were obviously drunk or high"

"It was my mother"

"Well she had to keep your hopes up some how"

"Are you calling her a liar?"

"No I'm just saying she bent the truth so that you wouldn't be depressed"

"I am intelligent!"

"Prove it." The crowd 'oohh'ed, this was getting tense, a mistake now would not be good.

"Ask me a question," demanded Ron.

"What is the average air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?" Most of the muggleborns of half bloods were sniggering, why 11 year olds had been watching Monty Python Max would never know.

"How am I supposed to know that?" exclaimed Ron.

"By watching muggle films"

"But I'm not a muggle"

"Are you implying that I am?"

"Yes"

"So I, a supposed muggle, am smarter than you?"

"No, you're stupid; all muggles are stupid so you must be one"

"How can you get up in the morning, quite frankly it amazes me you haven't died yet from either forgetting to breathe or just lack of brain power?" There was a hushed silence as Ron struggled for a comeback but he failed and let out an enraged growl, or tried to but his voice hadn't broken so was a bit high pitch.

Flitwick chose that moment to walk back into the classroom. Everyone scrambled for their seats and sat as if they had been there all the time.

Soon it was lunch time and once again Max slide down the banisters on a shield but this time she ran out of banister and crashed into a wall bypassing several students amazingly.

"That didn't hurt," Max proclaimed.

As she peeled herself of the wall students watched as Laura walked up to her and picked up the shield and bashed Max round the head with it causing her to stagger a bit as if she had been drinking.

"That did though," she amended.

"Max how could you do something dangerous like that without me?"

"Uh, I picked up a shield and spontaneously decided to surf down a banister," she said shrugging.

"Next time tell me and we'll race"

"Ok, you're on"

They walked into the great hall and dragged Harry and Draco from their respective tables to the Ravenclaw table. Most of the upper years were shocked and Dumbledore was seething.

"So how were your days?" asked Max, she was well aware they were being looked at.

"Not as interesting as I bet yours was," said Laura smirking.

"Well, apparently I'm a vampire, I have two teachers who I'm in trouble with and I managed to insult some guy a lot. Funny thing is I can't remember his name." The group shared a laugh they chatted for a while. Some of the other ninjas joined them while they were eating until Dumbledore came up to them.

"I'm afraid you'll all have to go back to your house tables"

"Why?" Aas the collective question.

"At meals it's required to sit at your house tables as per the rules"

"Whose rules?" asked Laura.

"The schools"

"Well then we have a problem, I'm not sitting apart from my friends just because of some dumb nonexistent rule. Don't act like were stupid I read Hogwarts a history," said Laura, the others nodded in agreement.

"It's for the good of house unity, there wouldn't be much point in having houses if you didn't spend time together," explained Dumbledore.

"That was just wrong and sick," whispered Max to Draco who sniggered. Max was wondering about some of these kids. They were beginning to understand some of her jokes. It hadn't been that long.

"I spend after curfew with them, isn't that enough. No wonder everyone's so biased against other houses, they can't spend much time with them the only place they can meet up is the library and them they have to be quite, outside its cold and you end up messy," said Max out loud, announcing it to the whole school.

"That's quite enough, you will return to your tables now"

"And if we don't…" pressed Max, she didn't want to miss out on annoying someone.

"I will have to assign you detentions," said Dumbledore.

"Hey Laura we can start on trying to break that record of most detentions" exclaimed Max. They shared a high-five much to Dumbledore's annoyance.

"And the stupidest reason for one," was Draco's addition. He got a high-five from both girls.

"Wasn't the last one for spiting down the side of the stairs down the middle to see who they hit," added Harry. Four way high-fives were interesting.

"I thought it was for attempting to abseil out a window," said Laura.

"I so have to do that. It sounds like fun," said Max already planning.

"RETURN TO YOUR TABLES NOW!" screamed the headmaster.

"You all owe me five galleons" said Harry calmly to the others; each of the other three people handed over the money.

"Why couldn't he have lasted two more minutes? Two that's all I could ask for" moaned Draco.

"I was so certain he would start foaming at the mouth," mourned Laura at her loss, they got up and headed towards their own tables. For now they would obey that particular 'rule', until tomorrow, tomorrow was a new day.

"Hey Harry, how was herbology?" yelled Max over the noise of the hall.

"It was ok, could have been better but that red hair kid tripped over his own feet and spilt some instant flowering seeds. How was transfiguration?"

"Not to bad, I got in trouble again"

"That's not surprising," yelled Laura from the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey, I resent that, I can stay out of trouble sometimes"

"Name once"

"Uh… ok you've got me there but still I could if I wanted to"

"I don't believe you"

"She isn't the only one," called out Naruto from next to Harry.

"I can't remember one time she wasn't annoying someone," said Laura.

"Ok you've made your point but asking me to stop is like asking Sakura to stop being a fan girl, it's impossible," protested Max. They heard and indignant squawk from the Hufflepuff table.

"Be quiet!" a voice boomed from the teachers table, they looked and saw Dumbledore seemed to be turning purple.

"But we want to talk but since we can't sit near each other we have to yell," explained Laura.

"You can wait until after the meal"

"No we can't"

"Why not"

"I need to talk to them, it helps me retain my sanity"

"Wait until later, surely you can last through a meal"

"Never mind I'm finished and the others are too," said Laura, she had a random way of finding out, but she was very observant. The group met outside and headed to the library to finish some homework. Or at least pretend to. Books were so easy to booby trap.

That night Max couldn't sleep, it seemed the blood pops were full of caffeine too. She found Gaara sitting on one of the various towers. They stared as the stars for a bit, Max would point out some of them that she could remember. They had been silent for a while though.

"Max?"

"Yes"

"What do you think the meaning of life is?"

"Gaara, I don't know and I really don't want to know because it's probably some random thing like were just a pimple on some ones arse, so I would be better of not knowing"

"Maybe we are here to make the most of life"

"Uh huh," Max had given up trying to get him to listen to reason and was just nodding when he said something.

"So do you have a crush on someone?" Fortunately for Max she had been paying some attention.

"Huh?"

"Do you?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"It's either me or Temari?"

"Ah, well the answer is no"

"Fine but you have to reason with her." Max only glared in response, Max eventually went back to her room and fell asleep.

Months passed and Halloween came. Max was stuck in charms sucking a blood pop. Her teachers had given up telling her not to. Across the room she heard Ron having a go at someone. Pretty much every day for the last two months Max had argued with him. She saw the girl he was moaning at perform the charm and his face turned sour.

Max performed the charm but 'accidently' missed so Ron ended up floating above his seat. Ron had started to panic and scream blaming her, that's when a kunai became embedded in his desk and a second latter one in hers. He had gone pretty pale. Max's ANBU partner Ryuu appeared in the centre of the room scaring the others into silence.

"What is the problem?" her partner growled.

"That stupid bint levitated me," complained Ron.

"I missed the feather because you're moaning was distracting me. Oh and I'm not a bint, I am in no way similar to your mum," countered Max.

"You have terrible aim then!" Ron was turning as red as his hair.

"And you have a bad attitude"

"STOP both of you," growled Ryuu, he went and pulled the kunai out of the wall and desk and returned to the centre of the room.

"If you two can't behave then you'll settle it in the way of my home country"

"How's that?" asked Ron.

"A fight or duel"

"It's not allowed in the rules," Ron said automatically.

"Dumbledore agreed that if you insulted one of my students then I can choose the consequence"

"In Hogwarts a history it says you could challenge someone to a 'duel to uphold your honour' and in the recent rules it hasn't been rescinded," piped in Hermione.

"So it's settled four o'clock on the Quiddich pitch, no magic, in the style of my homeland its just fists and feet until one concedes. Professor Flitwick can observe and act as referee if he wishes to," said Max, for some strange reason Dumbledore walked in.

"I'm sorry but I cannot allow this." Max rolled her eyes.

"Are you denying us our cultural heritage and out rite of honour?" asked Max.

"It's against school policy"

"If you had gotten here two second earlier you would have found Hermione quote that it is allowed" said Draco, Dumbledore looked panicked for a second but it disappeared moments later.

"Fine but only magic" Dumbledore was laughing, what damage could two first years do?

"Max issued the challenge and her rules, you can't change it," said Hermione, she may not be their friend properly but they had helped her out a few times.

"Your timing sucks ass"

"I will act as referee then"

"Should I just let you read a transcript of before you walked in so you can see that you can't change a thing without insulting the honour of the challenger and I can tell you now the repercussions won't be good," said Ryuu. Dumbledore was silently seething here he had been out manoeuvred by a bunch of kids.

"Nothing life threatening then"

"Damn I knew I forgot something!" exclaimed Max. The lesson ended not long after the headmaster left. Later Max was cornered by Laura.

"Do you know what day it is"

"Uh, no"

"It's Halloween, what happened on Halloween?" Max looked confused for a second then her eyes widened.

"Crap. I'll ask Ryuu to guard the place just in case"

"He's going to be watching over the match to ensure the rules are followed" Laura reminded

"Double crap, I'll ask Gaara, hopefully he won't mind missing the fight"

"He might get carried away and kill him then we would get into trouble and loads of questions will be asked about why he was there"

"Who do you suggest?"

"Make something obvious so it deters him. Then during dinner make it disappear then he'll take the opportunity to let the troll in then and then it can go like in the book, except Ron isn't there," suggested Laura.

"This is why you're better at making plans than me"

--

Well another edit done. I probably should have finished editing part one first...

Who's up for a train ride?


	5. The duel and 'relocating' the stone

Ron may seem a bit irritating but its how I imagine he would be.

Edited

--

Four o'clock approached and both fighters were warming up, well Ron was doing loads of showy stretching that would do nothing to help him. Max had an evil glint in her eye that struck fear into the hearts of the other shinobi the blood pop in her mouth probably didn't help the image. It was the look she had when she was ready to hand someone their ass on a silver platter. She had had it when she fought the snake Sannin and she had had it when she massacred the group of people who one of which had killed her teacher.

Ron, of course, was oblivious to this.

Max had left two wolf summons guarding the door on the third corridor, both the size of a car and Itachi had left a clone. Laura had suggested giving his clone one of her summon guns but she didn't want him to find a weakness with it, it would make their spars less interesting.

Most of the school had turned up just to watch the two first years beat each other up. It beats playing exploding snap or doing homework anyway. The clock chimed four times and the two duellers approached the platform with Flitwick standing between them and with a quick sonorous he started to announce.

"Welcome to the honour duel between the challenger Miss Maxine-" Max twitched violently, "-Hakie of Slytherin and the challenged Mr Ronald Weasley of Gryffindor, as per the challengers terms it will be a non magic duel and only hands and feet may be used first to concede defeat fails the honour duel. Due to the fact that it can't be lethal the winner gets 50 points to their house and the loser loses 50 points from their house." Both competitors nodded in agreement.

"Would both contestants hand over their wands and stand back to back then on the word ready take 3 steps forward and on the word go you may begin." Again the two first years nodded as they did as they were told.

"Ready?" they took 3 steps forward away from each other.

"Go." Ron stood very little chance as Max practically blurred out of sight and the next thing he saw the sky as he fly backwards by way of a powerful uppercut. He slowly stood, the world seemed to swirl, he saw the swirl that was Max and ran forward with his fist in front of him aiming for her face, she merely ducked and as he drew back his fist Max stood up taking Ron's foot with her flipping him onto his back.

"This is the best you've got?" said Max, she had expected something better, nothing to her standards but still, she wasn't even trying hard but then again she had trained since she was three. Ron scrambled to his feet and lunged at her again, she side stepped and tripped him as he passed. In the stands once again the others were taking bets on who would win, the twins were at the heart of it enjoying themselves and cradling their earnings so far.

"I did expect you to hit me once but it appears you're a bad at this as you are at magic," taunted Max. She didn't notice him lunging for her foot so ended up falling backwards but she only flipped up and disappeared.

"Foul, she's using magic to become invisible," Ron cried out only to fall forward as a foot connected with his back. He got up and looked at Flitwick in the hope he would be right.

"I gave my wand to Flitwick I can't do magic, just extreme speed," said Max as she blurred out of sight and kicked him in the chest and watched as he flew back.

"That's impossible," he groaned as he got up.

"They said flying to the moon was impossible to but they still did that, so are you going to give up or let me kick you around."

"I'm just letting you; it wouldn't be fair to show you up," he protested.

"Prove it!" Max was getting a gleam in her eye, Ron ran at her again and attempted to kick her only to get his foot grabbed and she twisted it around.

"Do you give?" she asked twisting it and seeing him wince in pain.

"No!" he said defiantly, she shrugged and twisted his foot some more.

"I can break this leg very easily so unless you give up you will leave me with no choice." They both were glaring at each other. Max gave a sudden twist and there was a sickening crack, Ron gave a cry of pain as he crumpled to the floor his leg was at a strange, unnatural angle.

"Due to the fact Mr Weasley cannot continue Miss Hakie is the winner," announced Flitwick as Madam Pomfrey ran over too them looking disapprovingly at Max; somehow they both were dragged back to the hospital wing.

"Students fighting indeed, you did quite a number on Mr Weasley" The nurse tutted, Max dreaded to think what she would say if she saw half the scars she had. It was as if she read her mind the nurse came over and started checking over her.

"How did you get these scars?"

"I fail to see how it is relevant, I'm not hurt in any way these scars are old and have been cared for," growled Max.

"You are a student and it is my responsibility to make sure the students are in good health!"

"I'm fine really, I've had worse and it didn't bother me!" insisted Max trying to back away slowly.

"I can at least get rid of the unsightly things," she said raising her wand.

"No!" cried Max defensively her eyes narrowing, she liked her scars.

"Why would you want them?" asked Ron curiously from the bed nearby. They had been talking for a while before the nurse had told them to be quiet and Max even though she would never admit it though he wasn't a bad as she first thought but she would still insult him just for humours sake.

"They're to remind me not to make the same mistakes twice." With that she got up, ignoring the protests of Madam Pomfrey who tried to stop her even tried to stun her but Max simply dodged then legged it back to the library to meet Laura to discuss what they should do now. Ed was also there but they agreed he could help. He did get a bit curious about how they knew all the obstacles but his question was waved off.

"I think we need to move the stone to a safe place," said Laura as they hid in the middle of the library Max had checked the place out and there was no way of being over heard.

"But what about the last part the mirror might be a bit tricky," wondered Max as she stroked her imaginary beard.

"I thought it didn't get put in until after Christmas," said Laura.

"I bet it was but Dumbledore moved it so Harry would find it, I mean who gives a first year a way to explore the castle when ever he wants?" explained Max.

"When should we do this?"

"After the teacher announces about the troll we shadow him and after he fails we make our move," announced Max with determination.

"Ok, we should go to dinner we wouldn't want to miss the show." With that said the three of them went down to the great hall and sat at their respective tables in an attempt not to arouse more trouble.

Half way through the feast the so called defence teacher ran in screaming like a girl.

"TROLL! TROLL, in the dungeon just thought you ought to know!" he exclaimed before fainting. The hall exploded into chaos and in that chaos Max, Laura and Ed snuck over to the supposed unconscious professor and waited under a table while the others were escorted back to the common room. They wondered if anyone realised the Slytherin common rooms were in the dungeons.

Once the hall was empty the pathetic excuse for a teacher got up and dusted himself down and headed for the third floor corridor, oblivious to the trio following him.

He entered the room and five minutes later they saw Snape follow and then both ended up running out and they saw one of the muzzles of the tree headed dog attempt to squeeze through to sniff them. It was really hard to keep hidden when they were trying so hard not to laugh.

Once they were out of sight the trio entered the room Max withdrawing a set of panpipes from one of her pockets and began to play and they watched as all three heads fell asleep.

"When did you learn to play?" asked Laura.

"During academy for the second time, I had to do something to pass the time, drove the teacher nuts," said Max between breaths.

Ed opened the trap door. He and Laura jumped down and were followed by Max all three of them fell on something squishy and each reacted in their own way.

Ed began to slash at it after quickly transmuting his arm. Laura kept really calm and Max snapped her fingers and sent a ball of fire in to the air and they watched at the plant shrunk down.

"That's like what Mustang does," commented Ed as they moved on to the next room. Max blushed a bit; it was Mustang she had gotten the idea from. The next room was the one with flying keys but since none of them really felt like chasing it Ed transmuted the doorway into jus an arch with elegant wooden carvings around it from the wooden door just to get it our of the way.

In front of them the giant chess set loomed.

"I don't suppose anyone's any good at chess, I haven't played in a few years and would probably fail miserably," asked Max the other two shook their heads.

"I didn't think so, I wish Shikamaru was here. So, any ideas?" once again the other two shook their heads then Laura visible brightened up.

"How fast can you run?" she asked causing a smile to grow on Max's face she grabbed both of them one over each shoulder using chakra to enhance the muscles she ran over the room jumping over the obstacles, she slammed into the door on the other side, it was supposed to open only when they had defeated the chess pieces.

Ed quickly did some transmutation of the door again and they rushed through as he transmuted it back. They saw the troll menacing them with its club. Since part of their plan had been to leave it pretty much untouched killing it was out of the question.

Max decided Genjutsu would be best and started the seals for one that would hopefully make it at least occupied for a while. They were in luck as the troll decided that cowering in the corner would be better for its heath as its worse nightmares swam in its vision. Once again they moved on as soon as they had all entered the room two fires sprung up in both doorways. Ed looked at the piece of paper and worked it out. They took a tiny sip of the content of the bottle and entered the next room to see the mirror.

"Hey Laura, do you think it would be fooled by genjutsu?"

"I don't know maybe if we swapped it for something, we need to do that anyway maybe switch it for a red stone no one will know the difference."

"Where do we get a red stone?" They both then turned to Ed.

"Ed?" He rolled his eyes and transmuted a red stone using red pigment and a random rock then something strange happened, Ed who was holding the fake stone looked into the mirror. There was a flash of red light as the stone was replaced by a small bottle of a red liquid but from its density reminded Max and Laura of mercury.

"Well now that that's done we should get out of here," said Laura heading for the door. Max rolled her eyes and grabbed both of them and shushined out to the devils snare room which was her limit seeing as it shushin was basically speed to the extreme plus some illusions or at least that was what she thought it was the only thing that made sense.

They saw the devil snare re-growing slowly and looked up at the small square that was the trap door. None of them had any clue to how to get up, until Laura ran into the next room at least. She re-emerged holding three broomsticks and each of them grabbed one and mounted it. They may not have had their flying lessons yet but how hard could it be.

They only just got out uninjured and when they got of the broomsticks flew back down to the room. The three of them sighed in relief they were done. Their mission was complete. The felt warm breath on the back of their necks then remembered the three headed dog and ran out the door.

"That was so much fun, we should do it again!" said Max as they caught their breath as they walked to the library they discussed how easy it was to seal a stone in the supposed safest place. Besides if anyone noticed they would blame some random kid.

They decided that Max would seal the stone into a scroll and Ed would transmute a casing in the shape of a small gothic dragon with no way of opening it other than transmuting it then, leave it with Laura since she wouldn't be able to unseal it and be tempted to use it. They made sure only the person who did the protection saw it being done so if some one read their mind they would only get part of it.

Max quickly made a clone and henged it into her ANBU alter ego and made it escort them to their common rooms. It was only when Max closed her door did she realise there were more people in her room then there should be.

"Hey Sasuke, Gaara, Shino, Temari," she said nodding to each as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Where were you?" asked Temari from her bed.

"Saving the world," answered Max in the same tone and a straight face.

"You took the stone!" accused Sasuke.

"No! I put it somewhere safe were no one knows where it is, anyway I can't wait for tomorrow, first flying lesson," she said changing the subject.

"You actually trust a broomstick to fly they don't look like they could sweep the floor let alone fly!"

"Imagine this, if you learn to fly just think about how it would make missions more interesting. Flying over an enemy and then just dropping out of the air onto them!" The others rolled their eyes, why Max was so excited was beyond them. They headed to bed while Max escaped out the room muttering about windows and headed to the roof to discuss some things with her partner. Every month they would discuss things like lessons to see what they learn and how it would help benefit the students in case of an attack.

"Where did you go after the feast?"

"Relocate the stone into a safe place seeing as the defence professor tried to get it."

"How are the lessons?"

"Alchemy's fun Mustang may be a bit arrogant but he gets the job done. Defence is worse than the academy, the teacher is faking the stuttering and there is now a burn mark above my seat," Max reported.

"The flare gun again?"

"Yup, potions is easy but Snape just gives us the instructions and says get on with it. He doesn't explain things, the only reason I'm passing is because I've done something similar before. Transfiguration is pretty cool we get a far balance of theory and practical but McGonagall is a bit harsh, unlike Snape she prides herself in being nonbiased but it doesn't stop her from not liking Slytherin. Herbology is interesting because many of the plants are useful. Charms is hilarious, Flitwick is a great teacher and astronomy is ok at best. So far I've managed to get out of every detention that I've been set."

"I hear you have flying lessons tomorrow."

"Yup, it's the only for of physical education they get apart from walking around. Which brings me to a new point, I need someone to spar with or I'll get rusty and you are the only one who can keep up. Ok sometimes I spar with Gaara but it gets kind of repetitive."

"Fine, sitting around gets boring." Max beamed and they headed for the forest to practice.

The morning came as Max and Itachi returned to the castle both covered in new bruises, cuts and burn marks. It was still a couple of hours until most people got up so they found Gaara and ended up arguing over the best way to kill someone, it only triggered a song in Max's mind 'I can't decide' by the Scissor Sisters. Unfortunately Max's MP3 player didn't work because of the magic so she couldn't let them listen.

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Please review


	6. Flying and rescuing the 'stone'

Just so your away, I can't be bother to write in everything from the books, there will be a lack of quidditch games.

redone

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All too soon people were stirring so Max and Gaara returned to their rooms to get ready for the new day. Itachi just moved around the castle making sure nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

As was usual by now Max walked into the great hall sucking on a blood pop and people looked at her noticing some of the new cuts. Max never liked the attention she got in the morning when she had been doing something like training during the night. Her tee shirt today said 'flying is easy just throw yourself at the ground and miss'.

"Don't you people have late homework to be doing? 'Cause I do and I can't do it while people are staring at me!" She called out, shocking people out of their stare. Each and every morning that this had happened she said something different. As she sat in her usual spot taking out her homework for charms she was approached by Draco who seemed to be bouncing in his step.

"Let me guess you're excited about flying lessons," she drawled as she wrote out why you should never levitate humans with wingardium leviosa. His incessant bouncing answered for him.

"If you don't stop bouncing I will transfigure you into a ferret, I may not know how but that's half the fun," she threatened and Draco's bouncing stopped or at least for the next five minutes it lessened, then returned.

They headed out to the grassy area where the broomsticks were lined up. Madam Hooch walked up to them and explained in a stern voice what they would be doing. Unfortunately the Gryffindor were in the same class. So naturally the sh.t was likely to hit the fan. As in the book they stood by a broom and said "Up," most of them went straight up.

As was predictable Neville was nervous and jumped the gun, causing him to shoot up. Madam Hooch did nothing to help as she was busy breaking up an argument between Ron and Draco.

Max grabbed her broom and took to the air making leeway to Neville but ultimately she was going a bit slower than she probably could have, she hadn't had enough practice to be able to do what was necessary to help him and try to control a speeding broom.

She took initiative and stood on the broom near the back and with a few steps she jumped off at Neville using chakra to enhance the jump, unfortunately she miscalculated the jumps as Neville's brooms movements were wild and unpredictable she caught on by a hand and swung up behind him. The broom was still moving wildly and Max almost lost her grip but successfully managed to crouch on the back.

"Neville calm down, just relax," she said holding his shoulders to reassure him of her presence. She was crouched behind him and he visibly relaxed a bit her presence calmed him down despite her being a Slytherin. In her minds eye options were presenting themselves.

"Neville keep calm and just nudge the broom left a bit, just lean." He did so and the broom move in a controlled but a bit jerky sweep left.

"That's good now lean forward not to much just small movements smooth and precise, imagine your potting a plant, you need to keep you movements controlled." The broom started to descend towards the ground by the group. Then Max remembered her broom.

"Do you think you could head over to that broom that's drifting?" She asked.

"I'll try." he said shakily.

"I have faith in you just remember your in control." He nodded and moved slowly towards the broom gaining confidence. They got alongside it and Max gave Neville a choice.

"Do you want me to stay here or do you want to try on your own" She asked.

"Can I try on my own?" Max smiled and moved slowly onto her own broom so not to upset the balance. Only then did Max notice her weapon scroll containing her scythe drop from her pocket and through her outstretched fingers as she made a swipe for it. She really doubted she could catch it and keep Neville calm and uninjured.

She saw something below move fast heading towards it and recognised Harry's black hair. The wind had taken hold of Max's scroll and it was moving toward the walls of the castle but he sped at it and caught it moments before impact. He returned to the ground waiting for Max to return.

"Right now turn and head back to where the others are." Neville turned, he was a bit shaky but got the hang of it then they started towards the ground where they noticed the others watching, Neville immediately started to panic.

"Neville, calm down just because they're watching doesn't mean you are going to muck it up. Imagine they aren't there, imagine it was just like when I was there, nothing has changed just face up to you fears, you can make it. I believe you can and come on if a Slytherin belies in you then you can do it." Max continued this all the way down. When they landed Neville looked in shock. Harry came over and handed back the scroll.

"I did it!" Neville exclaimed happily, Max smiled.

"When ever you think you can't do something remember this, it proves you can do anything if you put your mind to it."

"I have never seen anything like this," said a stern voice behind them; they both turned and saw Madam Hooch standing, her arms folded and her eyes seemed to pierce their skin, many people had tried to unnerve Max and so far this teacher seemed closest. From the castle they could see Professor McGonagall walking at a brisk pace towards the group.

"I would like Mr Potter to come with me," she commanded, Hooch nodded and faced back to the pair.

"Never in all my days have I seen such a display, I really don't know what to do." by now most of the class had meandered over.

"I would like to award Slytherin 20 points for Miss Hakie's display of inter house unity and helping a fellow student," announced Hooch shocking most of the class. The Slytherin's weren't sure whether to boo or cheer.

The lesson continued but Harry didn't return, Max guessed he got told about seeker and they were probably discussing things. Next lesson was alchemy and Slytherin had it with Ravenclaw.

"Open you book to page 86 and read the blue box and summarise then start reading chapter 3," instructed Professor Mustang. Max was sat between Laura and Ed. Mustang had decided to promote inter house unity they were seated Ravenclaw Slytherin, Ravenclaw etc.

Ten minutes later the class had finished reading and Mustang began to quiz them. Max could just imagine him pulling a Kakashi and reading porn while turning up late with an extra lame excuse.

The lesson soon finished and they headed for lunch, Dumbledore was absent so Max and Laura went over to the Gryffindor table, Max sat between Harry and Neville while Laura sat opposite her, between Hermione and an empty space.

"How was whatever lesson you just had?" asked Max striking up conversation.

"It was pretty boring we had defence and he seemed a bit… off he barely stuttered and seemed a bit annoyed," said Harry.

"We've just had alchemy, it's defiantly one of the best lessons, and anyway what happened after McGonagall took you out of flying lessons."

"You'll never believe it, I'm the new Gryffindor seeker, youngest in a century."

"So cool but I still think ice hockey is defiantly better, and thanks for catching my scroll, it's very precious to me its something my first sensei gave me before she died."

"Anytime, have you done the potions homework?" Harry asked, Max looked at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"You should know by now my homework is done half an hour before the lesson it's due in," proclaimed Max. Laura nodded, Max seemed to have all the jammy genes, she could do her homework in 10 minutes and still get a good grade. She thought back to their previous life when Max hadn't bothered to do her German homework and the teacher hadn't checked but said next lesson he would, by the next lesson Max still hadn't and the teacher didn't check.

By the next lesson Max had finally done it and the teacher checked then. It was the same with books, if Max had forgotten her book they would most of the time not use them. Max had found this really funny. Her jammy genes didn't get her out of every thing though.

After lunch they headed to defence against the dark arts wondering what to do for the next hour. Once again Max and Laura were reminded of their past life, not all lessons had decent teachers. Some lessons they had played cards others they had slept and some they had even done their work just because they were extremely bored.

Sadly Laura had Potions so headed to the dungeons. Max was sat at the back of the classroom wishing she could listen to her MP3 player when she was inspired. She would try to make her MP3 player compatible with magic.

It only took a couple of lessons until she figured out she could replace the electricity with chakra and as long as she kept pumping chakra into it, it would work. It was her new chakra control exercise.

But now she was bored again, she looked through the books she had got and found one on the theory of apparating, it looked interesting enough and since Laura said they should wait until at least second year to try Animagus transformations she couldn't do that. She had finished the book in a month and still had half a month worth of defence and history lessons to burn so she tried her hand at protecting her mind. She planed on learning the theory then putting it into practice after the holidays.

Last thing of the term was transfiguration they had been changing matchboxes into trinket boxes and most people couldn't concentrate, as soon as they were let out the class practically vaulted over the desks to the door. Just as Max reached the door she heard her name being called.

"Max stay behind"

"Max what did you do this time?" came a voice from the corridor.

"I don't remember"

"Max what's this?" asked Professor McGonagall, holding up an essay.

"My essay"

"Why is it signed 'The Almighty Super Ninja'"

"'Cause it's true." Max received one of the harshest glares of the year.

"Next time just put you name on it, now get out before I take points." Max ran out of the room wondering what to do to her next essay.

Christmas was quite apart from some of the pranks that got played, Laura and Max had missed the thrill of watching a prank come together

On Christmas day the teachers had come in dressed the part but not by choice, Dumbledore was Santa, most of the staff were reindeer, Snape was Rudolph and Flitwick and Hagrid were an elves. When Max and Laura walked in half an hour later Dumbledore beamed at them and gave them both 30 points each for creative use of charms and transfiguration. If glares could kill they would be 6 feet under just from the one from Snape. Most of the others found the funny side.

Back to lessons afterwards seemed to boring for words, her mind was better protected or so she hoped but she wouldn't know about apparating for a while. She noticed Harry and Draco spending time in the library and confronted them.

"What are you two doing?"

"Research"

"On what?" The two boys exchanged a glance.

"Nicholas flamel"

"Why didn't you just asked me? I know a bit about him"

"Like what?"

"First tell me why"

"We think that something of his is hidden in the third floor corridor and a teacher is trying to steal it." Max started laughing, 'good luck with that' she thought.

"What's so funny?"

"It took you this long to figure it out, anyway Flamel is the only known creator of the philosophers stone, it can change base metal into gold and it also known as the elixir of life and can keep some one alive so long as they have regular access to the stone"

"How do you know these things?"

"Reading and research, same as everyone else"

"What about three headed dogs?"

"Are you planning on stealing the stone?"

"No"

"Good, then you wont need the answer." with that Max left to go and plan with Laura

Many months passed and the end of the year was fast approaching, Hermione, who was hanging around with Harry and Draco, after Max had yelled at Draco for being a jerk by calling her a mud blood, was in a panicked frenzy about the exams. She had almost flipped when she saw Max and Laura calmly playing muggle chess.

"You two should be revising for the exams, if you don't pass them you won't be able to return next year"

"Hermione, 1, calm down and breathe, B, this is revising just not for the exams, 3, we don't revise for tests, its pointless and we have no need to and finally D, let people revise on their own terms don't force it on them"

"Max you do realise that you gave you points in the order 1, B, 3, D," said Laura as she moved her knight.

"My bad," was Max's noncommittal reply as she moved her queen to take it.

The day after the last exam Max and Laura watched as the defence teacher headed for the third floor. The saw Harry and Draco head there a little while later and they almost got stopped if it wasn't for Max interfering and drawing Snape's attention to Peeves. They watched them get passed the protections and only just noticed Ron and Hermione behind the two boys.

They managed to catch up in the potions/riddle protection. Max and Laura were waiting and had taken some of the potion ready to follow who ever went through.

There was a small conflict but in the end they decided Harry should go on while the others do back to get help. As soon as both parties had gone Max and Laura jumped down from their hidey hole. They followed Harry through the fire.

As they expected the defence professor was standing in front of the mirror, Max and Laura quickly put on ANBU masks, glad they had changed into ninja gear first, Laura temporarily had a crane mask. They watched the conflict before the Defence teacher attacked Harry, Max threw a warning kunai before they both jumped down.

"Cease you attempts or your life will be forfeit," warned Max as she swished her scythe around. She saw a spell sent at her and dodged it, the killing green missing her and shattering one of the columns. Max sent out a few kunai in return while Laura helped harry.

Max got distracted by the mirror and what it showed as she passed it; it gave her opponent enough time to blast her into a wall. As she tried to regain enough motion to defend the other two she saw him approach Harry and Laura, he shoved Laura out of the way and grabbed Harry only to withdraw hissing in pain.

"Harry grab him, he can't stand your touch, aim for the face" yelled Laura from the floor as she propped herself up. Harry did as he was told and the defence professor collapsed in extreme pain, Harry still managed to keep conscious for the moment. No one had notice the crack on Max's mask or as it split and fell to the floor. Every one turn to the sound of shattering porcelain and saw Max without her mask her eyes wide before it was replaced with the image of an average girls face, via henge.

"Sh.t!" was the word that escaped Max's lips closely echoed by Laura, Harry looked blearily at Max trying to make out her face to see what the mysterious guard looked like but sleep was calling him and before he could get a good look he succumbed to the darkness.

--

Reviews make the world go round

A square world would be a bit silly really


	7. End of term, kidnapping and new mission

Another chapter here for you

Do me a favour and please review

Redone

--

Harry opened his eyes, he felt like he had been hit by a bus several times. He sat up and noticed her was in hospital wing on the bed next to him was who he assumed was one of the guards, the one with the wolf mask on the bed side table. The guard was lying on her side facing away from him, but turned over in her sleep to face him, but something seemed different, her then noticed she didn't have her mask and it looked like Max.

"Max?" The girl sat bolt upright showing it was Max.

"I am so going to get moaned at now"

"Why did you have one of the guard's masks?" asked Harry.

"She had an emergency so I borrowed her mask so I wouldn't be recognised when I went to help you" Max lied quickly.

"Oh... How did you get the scar on your back?"

"An accident with something that exploded." Before he could ask another question the doors opened and Dumbledore walked in followed by Max's partner and a clone of Max in her ANBU gear with a mask. Max assumed Itachi was covering for her.

"What happened to the stone?" asked Harry.

"Mr Flamel and I had a chat and decide it would be for the best if it was destroyed," explained Dumbledore.

"I feel kind of guilty it's partly my fault, do you think I could see him" asked Max. She wasn't going to call bullsh.t yet.

"I'm sure that it can be arranged," smiled Dumbledore, truthfully Max just wanted to explain things like the fact the stone was safe. Harry went to the feast later with Max's clone while she went to debrief with Itachi.

The end of term came and on the train Max sat on the roof sucking on her blood pop. After the feast Dumbledore had taken Max, Laura and Ed who also had expressed an interest to meet Mr Flamel. When Dumbledore had gone they handed him a scroll ready to be keyed into his blood, done in a rush Max had keyed his blood into it and they had told him it could only be accessed by him. Unfortunately for Ed it wasn't the stone he was looking for it was basically the impure version.

Back at the station Max and Laura had decided to scare Harry's relatives. They had lost the argument to take Harry with them. Max was still wondering how she had lost, it was one of those things that rarely happened.

"Come on boy we haven't got all day" came the obnoxious voice of fat whale number one aka uncle Vernon. Max helped with the trolley while Laura just followed talking to Harry and Draco.

"You call your nephew 'boy' what kind of whale are you?" said Max.

"That's none of you business"

"That you see is where you're wrong," said Laura.

"We are his friends and if we find you've been mistreating him-" threatened Max.

"-and we will" added Laura.

"Then the consequences will not be nice," finished Max using a tiny bit of chakra to make her eyes change into a wolves as she glared.

"What can a bunch of kids do? Especially a bunch freaks like you" Just then Itachi landed behind them his Sharingan visible through his mask. They had used a minor genjutsu that worked a bit like a notice-me-not charm so no one would notice.

"Who are you people?" asked a panicked Dudley.

"We can become your worst nightmare, should you provoke us, you leave Harry alone and we won't have a reason to do anything. Heed my warning, it will be your only one," said Max the chakra in her eyes making the colours swirl in a hypnotising way, all of her body language screamed dangerous as it did on Itachi and Laura and even Draco.

"We will be watching." With that Max took Draco and Laura and shushined away followed by Itachi. Truth was they shushined back to the platform nine and three quarters. Itachi had a clone follow them just to make sure.

Since the ninjas had a few hours to burn they went their separate ways again, Max and Laura headed for the Thames just to relive some memories. What they didn't expect were their old families sitting in the park they had been planning to muck around in. They also didn't expect one of their parents to come over and talk to them.

"Are you lost?" Ok it really wasn't what they were expecting they we expecting something more heartfelt, but then again they didn't exist as their offspring.

"No we're older than we look we get this all the time, we just managed to get short genes," lied Laura smoothly.

"Still London's a dangerous place"

"We live in a dangerous place they call America, home of violence and crime, we know," said Max slowly as if she was talking to a small child. She was remembering why she was resentful of her parents back in their old lives. They were so overprotective even if they didn't know someone.

"You don't have much of an accent. Still I wouldn't feel right leaving you on your own." Max looked a bit puzzled something didn't seem right.

"Max, you should see this," said Laura tugging on her sleeve Max looked around to see a poster with her face on it the caption said 'wanted for information on a shooting'.

"Sh.t, how could I have missed that, lets go," they turned to leave only to notice quite a few blacked out cars with people heading towards them, some in military uniform and most with guns pointing at them.

"We are so screwed," said Laura.

"Thank you captain obvious," replied Max.

"Fine you're screwed; I'm not mentioned on the poster"

"But your with me, you may be connected"

"I hate you"

"I hate me too," by this time they were surrounded, the person Max recognised as Mrs Jones stepped forward.

"You need to come with me"

"How do you plan on making that work?" asked Max, reasons why it wouldn't producing themselves in her mind.

"You don't seem scared of these guns one might accidently shoot your friend." Max almost laughed, if it came to that she would move in front of her in a heartbeat. She could heal herself, Laura couldn't.

"Good luck explaining that to the Americans, we're American citizens so if your trigger happy buddies feel the need to shoot someone use someone else as target practice." Max grabbed Laura's arm and rushed one of the men and burst through, taking them by surprise. They ran for a few streets then went into an alley way so Max could Henge into someone else. What they didn't notice was a blue police box further up the alley way.

They met up with Itachi who told them Harry was having a hard time so they headed for surrey. At number 4 Privet Drive they headed up the drive and Max knocked on the door while Itachi and Laura head around to below Harry's window were they saw bars.

"What do you want?"

"I warned you not to treat him badly," said Max her face void of any emotion.

"Where are your friends," the whale snarled, he would not be intimidated by a girl.

"Watching"

"What exactly can you do? You're a child and a freak." Max withdrew her wand and Vernon paled.

"A freak with a wand"

"Put that thing away"

"No." Vernon had had enough he lunged for her only to miss as Max sidestepped. The doorway now clear Max wandered in and up the stairs to the room with the locks on and the cat flap. She opened the cat flap a bit with her foot.

"Harry? Move away from the door"

"Max?"

"Yo." There was a scuffle as Harry move back.

"I'm away from the door." Max took a small step back and kicked the door, it came of its hinges splintering the wood around the locks. Inside was Harry, lying on what could barely be called a bed, he was sporting some new bruises.

"You want to get out of here?" Max asked holding out a hand.

"But Dumbledore said" Harry said, worried, he took her hand and winced as she pulled him up.

"Is Dumbledore here?"

"Well no but he said it had blood wards"

"I have something better, let's get your stuff"

"It's down in the cupboard under the stairs." Max walked calmly down the stairs were Vernon was standing.

"I will not have another freak in my house"

"First of all I don't need to use magic to kick your ass and secondly I'm taking Harry away. Be happy." A chakra enhanced push shoved him into the kitchen. She yanked open the cupboard and grabbed the trunk, lifting it with ease she took it up the stairs and opened the window after rearranging the bars.

She dumped the trunk out the window and laughed a bit as it hit Itachi in the side of the head. It would still be less conspicuous than taking it via the front door with how nosy the neighbours.

"Yo Laura, Ryuu we're moving out before the Dumbles comes. Be ready, if he does get here we meet at point one." Itachi took the trunk and Laura and shunshined away. Max and Harry left the house and walked down the street, they had barely made it two streets along before the headmaster appeared before them.

"Harry needs to stay in his aunt's house, it's the safest place for him no one would be able to get him"

"Yeah 'cause no one would dare go near petunia, she might shriek at them" Max sneered.

"He needs to go back"

"It is no longer school. Don't even think about citing the contract, the mission is complete, you have no say what so ever."

"I'm his guardian," said Dumbledore pulling his trump card.

"Ok then I'll just have to kidnap him," said Max brightly, she glared at him before shusining away with Harry to where Itachi took Laura and Harry's trunk. They landed in a park in a nearby town.

"While you were in the loos on the train Me 'n' Draco were talking if we felt that you were being mistreated he would take you in for the holidays. I would but I can't, anyway I have a portkey for you it will take you outside Malfoy manor when your ready say 'take me away'," explained Laura after she handed him a marble, Max hadn't been in the conversation a she had been sitting on the roof. Harry took his stuff and held the marble.

"Thanks, I'll see you next year hopefully, take me home," were Harry's words before he was whisked away.

"Hopefully," said Laura after he had disappeared.

"We need to get to the airport," said Max so they left shushining most of the way in short bursts.

They landed in America later and headed to the SGC to go home. Once through the gate Max headed to the village faster than the rest of them, she wanted to see every one and Anko would never forgive her if Max didn't go straight to see her.

Back at the village there was a collective feeling of impending doom. It was explained when they saw a blur screaming and covered in orange paint. Max headed to the Hokage's office to report. Afterwards she headed to her house to find Anko lying on the couch looking a bit drunk.

"Hey Anko did you leave any for me?" Max dodged the kunai that headed in her direction. For some reason Max thought she might wake Anko up properly with an ice cold bucket of water dumped over her, that is why five seconds after following through with her idea ma was now running for her life. The others had gotten their payment and gone home, Itachi had gone back to be a missing nin for a bit.

It had been a week since they had gotten back and so far they had only gotten D ranks missions, this would soon change.

It wasn't long before team 7.5 got a new mission just to get them to be more of a team. They were escorting an actress to snow country. Now why did that sound familiar? It had been a few year since Max had last been there and that was when she was in her ANBU team.

Then it clicked, this was the mission in the movie. They had been sent to see the film and were waiting by the fence. They saw the horse jump over and Max groaned as Sasuke and Naruto followed. This whole mission would be troublesome. Especially if she started acting like Shikamaru.

The chase ended and Max watched as the person explained everything. They ended up on the boat after some random things happened including Kakashi hypnotising the actress. Max was bored and seasick. She never liked boats; they were on the list next to trains. She was glad when they stopped at an island of ice and snow. She only realised what was going to happen next when the three snow ninjas showed themselves.

"So Kakashi are you going to run again" asked the tall male one.

"Ah even Max is here but not the other two" said the female one.

"And she's going to kick your ass from here to snow country, wait uh from here to wind country"

"She's still cocky; you went so cocky when that building was burning around you with no escape" said the female snow nin, Max was wondering if she should have learnt their names.

_Flashback_

_As Kakashi's sledded away with the princess, Max was battling some other ninjas to cover the rest of her teams escape. The room is burning up and the snow ninja escapes blocking the exit. _

_Max wa__s panicking there is no visible escape, the flames are getting closer and Max was cursing the fact she never learnt a water jutsu. The floor collapsed and she fell to a different level away from the flames. She then escaped the collapsing building and helped Kakashi by covering him with the help of Itachi while Kakashi took the princess away. Yuri was on the other side of the building helping the servants escape._

_End flashback_

"I have to return the favour then but instead of burning you I'll just reduce you to pulp seeing as you have that chakra amour that would nullify most of my attacks"

"How do you know that?"

"I have my sources, so shall we dance?"

"Naruto! Sasuke! Get the others back to the boats," yelled Kakashi as the trio of snow nins attacked, the skinny male went for Kakashi while the female headed for Max, the other male went to attack the fleeing people.

Max dodged the female ninjas techniques knowing what would happen with most of them if they hit. She landed her own hits using the fire she loved so much and aiming for the face and thing on her back. She withdrew her scythe ready to slice up the snow nin.

"Yuri's dead then?" asked the woman in her taunting manner more stating it then asking. She sent ice block shooting out of the ground at Max. They traded more techniques each getting more destructive.

When Max saw the first white whale appeared she headed back for the ship putting her scythe back and grabbing Naruto and Sasuke as she ran passed them.

"Running away again, coward," taunted the woman.

"I prefer tactical retreat, ready to beat your ass another day, besides I would be stupid to fight on your turf unless I know how to change it," retorted Max as the boat cast off and Kakashi jumped of the broken island.

"What was that about," asked Naruto.

"Nothing important"

"I have a question." Naruto was up to something, the innocent look told her so much, this would not end well, Naruto's questions were normally a bad idea to answer.

"Yes?"

"Where do babies come from?" 'Kami hates me' decided Max, Tora must be laughing at her, nearby Kakashi had been listening and was trying not to laugh, he had heard the story.

"Why don't you ask Kakashi?" asked Max hopefully trying to avoid the question

"I did, he told me to ask you." 'ok Kami may not hate me but Kakashi does' Max decided.

"He did, did he?" asked Max gritting her teeth.

"So where do babies come from?" By now Sasuke had come over to see what was so interesting.

"Why don't you ask Tsunade when we get back?"

"But I want to know why now"

"But why ask me?"

"Kakashi said that you knew"

"What does Kakashi know; all he does is read porn and is lazy"

"Please tell me," he asked pouting his eyes widened and teary his lower lip trembling.

"No," said Max flat out ignoring all the tricks Naruto was using, she taut him most of them.

"Why not?"

"Did I ever say I knew, nope you just assumed which makes an _ass_ out of _u_ and _me_"

"Do you know?" asked Naruto innocently.

"You never denied knowing," added Sasuke.

"No so ha, go ask Kakashi, he knows, even if he doesn't just read his book"

"How do you know it's in the book?" asked Sasuke being entirely too perceptive.

"The sign on the back gives hints"

"Max just tell them," said Kakashi from his perch on the rigging.

"Why?"

"So you do know" said Naruto triumphantly.

"I am so going to kill you," said Max glaring at Kakashi.

"So will you tell us?" asked Naruto hopefully.

"Fine but next time you want to know something ask Kakashi," the two boys nodded and sat down.

"When a man loves a woman, or another man, wait two men can't make babies, anyway the man and woman go all lovey dovey and … play a game … causing the woman to have a strange reaction and the baby starts growing inside and 9 months later the woman gives birth. The end," said Max, truth was she was amazed she kept a straight face during that.

It's later when she saw Kakashi hand money over to Naruto she got annoyed.

--

Please review


	8. End of the snow mission

Redone

--

Max was about to snap. The filming and crew were driving her round the bend, she had never been one for drama, yes she was a bit melodramatic sometimes, but then she wasn't getting told what to do.

What made it worse was the fact she knew what would happen in the end. If she tried to change it, it could go pear-shaped, if she didn't she would go mad with boredom. She guessed she'd just have to effectively wait it out.

It was when the train came passed she had a thought that maybe even if she couldn't change it much she might as well have fun. As the sides of the train opened to reveal the kunai launchers Max withdrew her wand the other two followed suit, everyone else looked at them strangely.

As the kunai were launched Max cast the shield spell, Sasuke and Naruto followed suit each standing the optimum distance so it would cover the largest area and they watched as the majority of the flying bladed instruments were deflected off the three pale blue shields.

"Snow ninjas stand down or I will destroy you!" yelled Max over the clicks of the launcher, the attack continued and the freedom fighters still headed forward. Max moved forward keeping the shield stable, it had been one of the first spells she had learnt from one of her text books.

When she was no more than five meters away from the train, the shield still erect behind her. She had dodged most of the kunai but some were sticking in her arms. For a second her shield dropped as Max set the wooden train alight using the most powerful incendio she could muster.

She watched as the snow ninjas abandoned their posts as the fire quickly spread aided by magic. Max was so focused on keeping the fire going she didn't notice the princess get captured of Naruto followed until the rope her had attached passed by her head, instinct told her to grab it and grab it she did, letting up the fire in the process. It still burnt but less bright.

Max hadn't realised what she had done until she noticed the floor moving away from her quickly. By the time she realised she should get down it was to far for her to safely jump. So she did the only thing she could, climb up. She climbed slowly to waste time; she knew that what happened now would need to happen. But what happened after was unknown so she might as well muck it up now.

She reached the top of the rope and flipped in, just in time to see Naruto have the chakra blocking device put on his stomach.

"What are you doing to my brother?" demanded Max making her entrance, scythe drawn in one hand the other hand covered in flames.

"Aw it's the blonds' sister, another genin to dispose of," said the stocky man.

"That's no genin, that's ex-ANBU, though it seems she got demoted," said one of the snow ninjas in the hope of taunting her into making a mistake.

"Ah, a challenge is always good"

"What if the challenge is impossibly hard?" asked Max as she put her flaming hand through a wall, a melted hole formed and the smell of burning plastic and melted metal filled the room. She let the flames in her hand go out.

"Especially if you can't see them," she added as she activated her light bending jutsu and silenced her feet with her wand.

"Find her," ordered the brother of the late king. Max smirked and moved around, the burning plastic smell masked the scent and the silencing defeated the hearing and finally the light bending jutsu defeated vision. She was practically invisible. She moved slowly to the female snow ninja so that the wind currents wouldn't give away her position.

Somehow the ninja figured it out and grabbed Naruto from the flow where he had collapsed and held a kunai to his throat.

"Harm anyone and he dies," announced the ninja.

"Oh I won't harm them," Max whispered in the female ninja's ear, she quickly moved before they could figure out where her voice came from. She now stood behind one of the male ninjas.

"Directly anyway," said Max as she moved again letting the light bending jutsu drop as she summoned her sniper rifle with amour piercing rounds. She fired into the ceiling several times and the gas began to escape from the airship. Max's ears popped from the fact the airship was rapidly decreasing in height. She grabbed Naruto and the princess and ran to one of the doors. When they were near enough to the ground Max jumped onto one of the trees.

She headed toward the denser parts of the forest. She hadn't noticed the freezing tag the female snow ninja had put on Naruto. As soon as she was more than 15 meters away the tag activated and froze the threes of them before Max had time to react immobilising them.

Back in Konoha Laura was worrying, her 'Max has done something stupid' sense was tingling. Louise was torturing some poor sod using her mind as a weapon, more precisely her warped imagination.

On Earth Draco and Harry were talking about Quiddich again. They had been pranking for most of the holiday until Draco's father had gotten involved; Draco had never known his father to be so devious when it came to playing pranks. They had called a truce not long later on.

In his office the headmaster was still seething, he would defiantly not hire the ninjas next year unless he had to. 'Especially that Max girl' he thought. She did seem to be the one the others respected though so if he got her on his side the others would follow but she was a bit of a wild card. A plan formed in his mind that didn't bode well for the ninjas.

Max woke in a cell hanging by a chain around her wrists. She hadn't even noticed losing consciousness. Diagonally across the way was the princess and Max assumed that Naruto was opposite the princesses cell and therefore next to hers.

"I feel like I got run over by a tank followed by being repeatedly thrown at a wall," groaned Max trying to stretch the kinks out of her body.

"Max?"

"Who else would it be, the boogie man?"

"It could be"

"Why do you have ears?" asked the princess.

"What kind of question is that, you have ears two ya'know," said Max.

"You have furry ears though," the princess pointed out.

"Crap, my Henge dropped," groaned Max.

"You have a tattoo on one of your arms, like the ANBU," added the princess.

"I was ANBU, I got demoted though"

"You were one of the ones trying to stop the attack all that time ago"

"Yes, I almost died that day"

"You can't have been older than 8 though"

"I wasn't"

"How did you almost die?"

"Do you always ask so many questions?"

"I was just trying to pass the time"

"By prying into my life?"

"Well I'm sorry," said the princess sarcastically.

"Max just because you're grumpy doesn't mean you can take it out on people," said Naruto.

"She was prying into things I don't want to remember," protested Max.

"Max, it isn't helping"

"I have got to stop being so wise around you its creepy when you practically regurgitate it back at me"

"Still not helping"

"Did I say I wanted to help, if it's where Miss Prissy Pants is concerned then not more than I have to. I risked my life for her once and that's enough, she came here virtually willingly, so why should I go against her wishes?"

"I never asked to be a princess"

"I never asked for these ears there isn't much I can do though," retorted Max.

"You two are acting like 7 year olds"

"I take back what I said earlier, you need to stop listening to Laura anyway. We need to get out of here, I can't use chakra since these absorb it"

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Magic!" smirked Max.

"Don't be stupid, magic's just a story"

"That shows what you know"

"But we need a wand and don't the chains absorb it"

"The chains absorb chakra in its final form, magic is only half so the chains don't absorb it, luckily apparating doesn't require a wand"

"Do you know how to apperate? It's dangerous"

"You defiantly have to stop taking after Laura. I read the theory and I won't be moving far, just out of these chains then I _suppose_ I have to help the princess out"

"You're going to get killed"

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, you can try to break you chains you have more muscle mass than me so you'd have a chance," said Max.

"How am I supposed to do that, the device on my stomach takes all my energy"

"So don't use energy, use adrenaline, get angry think of all the bad things that people have ever done, every time Sasuke acts like he's better than you, every time Neji acts all high and mighty," Max said as she started to focus on where she wanted to appear. With an insane amount of concentration she managed to move with a loud pop. She reappeared still inside the cell but the chains were no longer around her wrists, she checked herself over to make sure she wasn't missing any body parts.

"In your face, I did it!" she crowed, then she heard the sound of metal snapping. She walked over to the door of her cell and picked the lock. Next to her cell she saw Naruto rubbing his wrists. She jumped across the small gap and picked the lock to the princess's cell.

"Come on we need to move before they find out were gone," urged Max.

"Too late," said a voice behind them. Max grabbed the princess and handed her over to Naruto.

"Take her and run, find Kakashi and Sasuke, I'll hold them off," said Max as she lit her hands cursing the fact that had taken her weapons. She had forgotten about her summons in the panic. There were three ninjas, different to the ones that had first attacked.

"Let's get this party started," said Max as she disappeared from sight, going at speeds faster than thought possible, even by ninja standards. It was while she was fighting she realised her feet still weren't making noises, they were still silenced.

She kicked out at one of them aiming for the knees enough to get them to become unbalanced and she shoved him just sufficient to get him to fall down the chasm that was between the rows of cells. The other two were doing seals. Max shoved a flame coated hand towards one of them who dodged it.

He didn't realise that the reason Max attacked from the direction she did was because when he dodged her, he knocked into the other ninja and the both lost balance and fell down the crevasse.

The first ninja had made his way back up only to be met with a barrage of flaming hits, fast and accurate. He slammed into the wall opposite burning and bruised. The other two had decided to sneak up on Max. They were practically right behind her when she turned around

"Your breath stinks," explained Max pulling a disgusted face. Then she charged up her boots and electrified them with a double footed kick, a foot connecting with either head. She forgot that the momentum carried her part way over the gap but not to the other side she reached up in a vain attempt to reach the ledge.

She began to fall lower than the level she was on, only to have her hand caught. She looked up and saw Kakashi leaning down with his hand griping hers and the rest of her team behind. Max smiled as she was pulled back up. Max grabbed her weapons from who knows where. They headed for the exit only to run into the throne room. The team watched the drama unfold.

At one point Naruto could have sworn he turned to see Max eating popcorn but he did a double take and saw her only watching the encounter. He didn't see the popcorn hidden behind her back. As they headed for where the 'treasure' was Max was wondering if there was someway to skip it. It was boring and all soppy; Max was only around for the adventure. As the old king's brother put the hex key in its slot Max noticed the first three snow ninjas around.

"Finally some action," she muttered as the three snow ninjas attacked. She jumped into the fight while Kakashi took the tall one she took the female one, leaving the other one for Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto had other plans and went for the usurper.

Max turned just in time to see her surrogate brother fall into the water. The fake king had been knocked out by the rainbow rasengan that had been made by the light reflecting of the mirror like blocks.

She couldn't quite remember this part because in the movie she had skipped this part. She removed her boots then dived in after him; she was glad she had learned to swim, before coming to this dimension she couldn't swim let alone dive. As she swam down she saw a glow being emitted from the device on his chest. She watched it shatter but Naruto was still out of it and still sinking.

She propelled herself faster and grabbed him before returning upwards. She broke the surface and swam to the side, she may have not been able to swim when they did the lifesaver thing but she still knew the theory.

The ending was too soppy for Max to handle and she disappeared, she knew basically what would happen, it wasn't like there was a massive surprise.

They headed back to Konoha; by Max's reckoning it would be the end of the summer holidays, that's if they were hired, after what she and Laura did it wouldn't be surprising if they weren't.

On their way Max sensed some familiar chakra ahead. Using FA Max looked ahead and saw Itachi and Kisame. Using the common ANBU sign language she notified Kakashi. They took a small detour but Max could see the two missing ninjas following their position. Once again she notified Kakashi.

He suggested splitting up, he would take Sasuke and Max would take Naruto. It would stop the unnecessary confrontation of Sasuke attacking Itachi and Max would be able to get the soppiness that had been driving her crazy out of her head. She would be able to handle them, she had before.

As expected the two missing ninjas headed for herself and Naruto. The plan was Naruto would draw them to her and she would hold them of while Naruto met up with the others and they got a head start.

"Naruto what ever you do let me handle most of this, they're S-ranked. They're after you but I'll distract them and you run meet up with the other two just south, by the river," she whispered, in her mind she made a mental note to teach him another language. Naruto nodded.

"Well, well what have we here?" said the tall cloaked figure looking at Naruto.

"Two kids," pointed out Max.

"I wasn't finished," whined Kisame still looking at Naruto.

"Deal with it sushi face"

"Oh great its you"

"Yep, so ready to become fried fish again"

"You wish"

"And my wish shall come true." Itachi had been moving towards Naruto hoping Max wouldn't see. He didn't want to annoy her when she was obviously itching to hurt someone or something.

"Itachi you better not be trying to kidnap Naruto when you think I'm not looking," said Max without turning around, she moved quickly and disabled Kisame by once again kicking him with the electrically charged boots. "That never gets old," murmured Max she turned to face Itachi.

"I'm going to assume you're here for Naruto." A nod answered her.

"Tough," she said as she launched a barrage of weapons at him before motioning Naruto to leave. He did as he was told and ran, once he was out of sight Max checked Kisame to make sure he was unconscious, she confirmed he was and that the area was clear. They chatted for a bit still fighting, as was normal to see how good they had gotten, until Kisame was stirring. Max then departed so her team wouldn't worry too much. She got back to them to see they looked worried.

"Did you really believe I would be defeated by them? I can own them with ease," asked Max.

"You took your time though"

"I like playing with my opponents"

"You really shouldn't get to cocky," said Kakashi not looking up from his book. Max rolled her eyes as they continued back to the village. Max was jumped on by Laura.

"What went wrong?" she demanded.

"How do you know something went wrong," Laura gave her a look. "I got caught and apparated out of the chains"

"Are you insane?"

"Yes." she got another look that promised pain. "I'm sorry but it was either that or I would be dead or on my way to death, please don't hurt me." As had been known before not much scared Max but Laura was an exception sometimes. Laura broke into a grin.

"So how was it, can you explain it? I want to try," rambled Laura, Max grinned too. Life was normal, or as normal as it got when Max and Laura were involved.

--

Review please


	9. A new friend and meeting a time lord

Redone

--

Max ran from tree to tree, once again her old team mate had been spotted and she had been sent to 'gather info on their plans', she was glad it hadn't been called research.

It had been a few weeks since the Snow mission and the leaves were falling as September had come. What she didn't expect was Deidara instead of Kisame. Out of all the Akatsuki members Max liked Deidara and Itachi the best since she knew them the best and Deidara wouldn't try to kill her every time unlike Kisame.

"So who killed the fish or did you have a craving for sushi?" asked Max as she walked into the clearing that the two missing ninjas were currently sitting in.

"He was to close to one of my bombs, unfortunately he didn't die, un," said the blond innocently, only for it to change to a smirk.

"So baked instead of flash fried, interesting, so how are you two?" asked Max they chatted for a while, until they got onto a subject that had been bugging Max for a while.

"Itachi why are you still wearing nail polish?" she saw his face turn a bit pink.

"He lost another bet," smirked Deidara.

"Oh and there was me thinking he liked wearing it, which bet did he lose"

"He reckoned that I wouldn't blow up Kisame again, supposedly because Kisame had been in a bad mood and would have killed me for it." Max shook her head slowly and turned to Itachi.

"You're never going to learn, don't make bets with Deidara and don't try to prank me, it's on the list," said Max.

"You still have that thing," asked Itachi disbelievingly.

"Yup and I've been updating it," said Max as she drew it from a pocket and showed it to him, Deidara looked confused so Max explained.

"When we were younger we made a list of things it really wasn't wise to do like making fun of Itachi's hair or trying to outsmart me or stealing the third Hokage's porn." Itachi gave her a look causing Max to realise what she had just said. "Did I say third Hokage's porn? I meant Kakashi's porn," she amended laughing nervously.

"Only you, Max, would know everything that can be used for black mail even on the influential leaders," said Itachi.

"Yup, I have some nice pictures of Naruto and Sasuke. Oh before I forget, the bumblebee doesn't need us, in fact after the last time he saw us I don't think he wants to even hear our names, but if you want black mail on him then I have some." Once again Deidara looked confused. Itachi understood that the bumblebee was Dumbledore and he wasn't hiring them again.

"The bumblebee?" asked Deidara

"Old joke," explained Max waving it off.

"So what black mail material do you have on Itachi, un?" enquired Deidara dodging the kunai throw at him, Max quickly moved as well as she opened her mouth to answer and another kunai stopped her.

"Aw I wanted to tell him some of the funny things that happened," pouted Max. She got a glare for her troubles.

"Deidara, make him lose bets more often and I'll tell you a few of his supposed secrets," Max proposed, Deidara smirked and they shook hands. Itachi groaned, this would not bode well for his reputation.

"I don't suppose I could talk either of you two out of it?" asked Itachi. Max was giggling, who would have thought these two missing nins would be able to chat like a bunch of teenagers.

All too soon they had to part ways, before she left she surprised Itachi with a hug and before Deidara had a chance to escape, she grabbed him in a hug too.

When she returned she headed home after handing in her mission report, she pitied whoever had to read it, her hand writing was no better than it had ever been.

At her house she saw Laura dissecting a rat next to the current one were a pile of rats of varying shape size and colour. Max rolled her eyes, it was better than a cat though.

"Do you have to do that here, can't you dissect it somewhere like the headmasters office, where did you get the rats anyway." Max suddenly didn't want to know when she saw the glint in Laura's eyes. "Did you send some poor group of genin to catch some rats?"

"Don't be stupid, though I might next time… Anyway, I sent that green kid with the bowl cut hair and shiny teeth." Max sighed in relief seeing one of the rats hearts she had an idea, she quickly picked it up and threw it at Laura. Direct hit to the face.

Max was doing her victory dance when she got hit by a rat's bladder. Both of them froze. They quickly scooped up a pile of rats and their organs and dashed out to continue their war. Many ninjas got hit and many bystanders who Max and Laura didn't particularly like.

Max was soon sent on another mission to check out some strange things going on in the south mountains. It was late at night when she headed out and made it to the bottom of the mountains in no time at all. Looking up using FA she saw something in one of the caves.

Sighing she started to climb, the chance of her getting back soon had lessened. Most ninjas would have jumped up the mountain using chakra. Max didn't she liked the experience of climbing just using her own power.

She reached the cave and looked inside, nothing out of the ordinary, a bunch of moss stone walls jagged edges. Something caught her eyes, a group of niches in the wall. Ninjas had probably stopped here at some point so it could have been one of them sharpening a weapon.

The stone the cave was hollowed out from was the best kind for sharpening weapons. What really caught her attention was the distance between them. They were in groups of four with the same distance between them. She but her fist up to a set of markings and found they were slightly further apart than her knuckles.

It couldn't just be a normal animal as it was too high for any animal to reach except maybe bears but claws don't make groves that deep. It was getting dark outside and Max decided to sleep for the night but only light sleeping in case what ever made those marks came back.

She was drifting of to sleep when a strange noise startled her.

"What the hell!" she yelled in surprise, she got up and headed to the entrance where the sound was coming from, what she saw shocked her. A blue police box had materialised outside. The door opened and a man stepped out in the middle of what appeared to be an explanation of where they were. The man stopped when he saw Max standing with her arms crossed tapping her foot.

"Do you know what time it is? It's too early to make noise," growled Max truth was she didn't like being disturbed especially at 6 in the morning. The man looked taken aback. By the looks of it he was the tenth doctor but his companion hadn't come out yet so when it was she couldn't tell.

"Sorry, the time must have shifted a bit." Max rolled her eyes; it sounded too much like Kakashi's excuses.

"So what are you doing here?"

"Exploring, I don't suppose you know where the nearest village is or what it's called," asked the doctor.

"The nearest village is Konoha a few miles north." By this time the door had opened again and the doctor's assistant exited the box. Max identified her as Martha.

"So what were you two doing in a box that small," Max grinned, the doctor looked shocked and Martha didn't know whether to laugh or be indignant.

"It's bigger on the inside"

"That's what she said"

"Grow up," said Martha.

"Tried and failed"

"I'm Martha and that's the Doctor, what's with the metal plate with the swirly leaf"

"I'm Max the plate is a sign of my village in which I'm a ninja"

"Can you two be quiet? Wait, did you say ninja?"

"Yup"

"_That_ Konoha I haven't been there in ages. Which Hokage is there?"

"The fifth"

"What happened to the fourth?"

"He died saving the village"

"Well we might as well head to the village and say hi to the new Hokage"

"How do you plan on getting there?"

"Same way we got here," said the Doctor tapping the box.

"I'll race you," challenged Max, she knew it could travel in time and she planed on using it to her advantage. She was always up for a race.

"Are you sure, you said it was a few miles"

"Yep. First to get to the tower wins"

"Ok"

"Just let me grab my stuff," said Max as she disappeared into the cave; she sealed the items into a scroll to lighten her load. She emerged and grinned.

"Ready?" The Doctor nodded

"Go," said Max as the two time travellers headed into the TARDIS. Max looked over the ledge and jumped. As she fell she saw the side coming closer, as she contacted it she used chakra to push off and leapt through the trees. She used chakra to enhance her speed and reached the village in record time. She appeared in the Hokage's office shocking Tsunade and the Doctor.

"You cheated you travelled through time," accused Max.

"Now how do you know it travels through time." Max realised she had slipped up.

"You can't have gotten here faster than me in a box, and when you stepped out of it the first time you said you got the time mixed up," amended Max, the doctor gave her a strange look.

"I thought you were on a mission," asked Tsunade.

"I was until I was rudely interrupted by these two"

"You seem to know these two people," said Tsunade implying Max should at least introduce them.

"Oh right, Tsunade this is Martha and the Doctor. Martha, Doctor this is the fifth Hokage and slug Sannin"

"Please to meet you," said the doctor politely.

"May I leave? I don't want to be here, I just want to finish my mission," asked Max, Tsunade nodded and Max shushined out.

She headed back to the mountain ready to finish what she started this time hopefully no one would interrupt her, she wanted to get home and sleep. Fate was not on her side.

Up ahead were Itachi and Deidara and if the rate they were heading in her direction was anything to go by they had noticed her. Max swore and diverted towards the west trying to avoid them with any luck they would get the hint.

They didn't. Max swore again and suppressed her chakra and moved faster slowing down at random points to mislead them in where they would find her. It didn't work.

"Damn you Itachi for knowing my tricks," she hissed as she tried to think of a new plan.

She cursed the Doctor if he hadn't of turned up then she wouldn't have walked out of that cave and she wouldn't be in this mess. She waited for the meeting knowing it was going to happen, whether she wanted it to or not.

"Why me?" she moaned at that moment the two missing nins made themselves visible to her.

"Don't you love us anymore?" sobbed Deidara melodramatically.

"No I hate you with every fibre of my body," said Max sarcastically.

"I love you too, un," said Deidara slinging an arm around Max's neck and the other around Itachi who looked like he was going to kill someone.

"Deidara, what did you do to Tachi-chan, he looks like he's going to explode," Max said innocently watching in amusement as Itachi developed a twitch.

"Don't call me Tachi-chan," growled Itachi.

"You know you love it," said Max grinning. Itachi shivered, that kind of grin was never good especially when she had been annoyed less than a minutes ago. Poor Deidara was oblivious to the potential impending doom.

"So why have you picked this day to see me?" said Max in a false sweet voice while her mind was plotting.

"Bored, un," bad move, Max's grin widened.

"Then you can help me with my mission." Before they could protest Max was dragging them to the mountain. She stopped and turned to them.

"What exactly is you mission," asked Itachi.

"Check out some rumours about strange things going on"

"We don't have a choice, do we?"

"Nope." The trio leapt up the mountain Max leading them to the cave. She showed them what she had seen and told them what she thought.

"I think we should stay here for a bit wait and see if anything comes. The marks look recent so if there is anything to worry about then it will be back within the week," suggested Itachi the other two agreed. To pass the time Max brought out a pack of cards and taught them poker gambling with rocks. They agreed that the person who ended up with the most would gain a favour from the other two.

The sun was setting when they heard a noise, each of them prepared for what could be coming. The noise reminded Max of a lion roaring, it reminded Max that on this planed she hadn't actually seen a lion or many of the big cats. Max shook her head to get her mind back on the mission at hand. The sound echoed louder.

On the edge of the cliff they saw a shadowed hand grip onto the ground, the claws sinking into the rock. The other hand reached up copying the first hand. What happened next surprised all of them. The two hands pulled on the ground lifting up what looked like a child, it stood on the edge. The hands looked oversized and from the back of the kid two wings hung dropped down uselessly it was to dark to make out what the kid looked like. They could see its eyes, the purple glowing with a slitted pupil. The eyes locked on to where they were standing.

"Who are you? And why are you in my cave?" asked the kid, by the sound of it the kid was male, form the height he looked about the same age as her.

"I'm Max and I was exploring, I had no idea you could own a cave or I would have gotten one ages ago." The two missing nins were slightly nervous. Max wasn't showing what kind of mood she was in so this could be dangerous.

"Who are your friends then?"

"This is Fred and this is Jim." The kid raised an eyebrow, how Max could tell was beyond them.

"Ok, ok. This is Itachi and this is Deidara, what's your name?"

"I don't have a name"

"Oh, can I name you then?" Everyone turned to stare at Max.

"Umm, ok"

"I shall name you… Michi." They were still staring Max glared back at them.

"So… why is this your cave?"

"I live here"

"Why?"

"Max…" said Itachi in a warning tone.

"What? I kinda am supposed to find out the answer, its part of my job," explained Max.

"I was kicked out of my village no one wanted a freak like me," said the boy Max put away her weapons and walked over to the boy and took him by the shoulders.

"You are not a freak, if you're a freak so am I"

"You don't have wings or claws." Max sighed and dropped her Henge, her ears were now visible.

"I have wolf ears, does that count?" The boy's eyes widened. Itachi was thinking what the Hokage would say if Max brought home another stray.

"Shichibi?" Max's eyes widened from the boy's words, she discreetly looked around and saw Itachi and Deidara looking unsurprised.

"You two knew," she said. It wasn't a question, her voice low and dangerous. Both of them looked sheepish. "When?"

"Chunin exams," was their answer; Max thought back to the second part when she had been sleeping on the roof and her Henge had fallen, she concluded they must have guessed. It was her fault that they found out. She sat down on the floor thinking, her hands in the tiger seal to help her focus.

"So now you know what I am, what are you?"

"An abomination"

"I asked for fact, not someone's opinion"

"When I was born my soul was fractured and a piece was lost, without a full soul you can't live long. My parent knew they wouldn't be able to have any more kids so they travelled to find a solution. It came in the form of a dragon. Before you say they aren't real hear the rest. They made a deal that the dragon could fill up my soul and make it whole so I would live and they would hand over their own souls in ten years in its place." The boy paused as his voice started to rasp, Max handed over some of her water. The boy took it and drank, then continued his story.

"A year ago was the deadline for the trade so my parents honoured their part, but the dragon tried to take my soul away as well. Never trust dragons. I fought it off and fled I didn't know that dragons are weak after doing any kind of soul Justus, so it died. The hands and wings you see are the result," finished up the boy

"Cool, now what do we do?" pondered Max, she opened her mouth but Itachi interrupted her.

"I don't think the Hokage wants another one of your strays," he pointed out, Max's face dropped.

"Damn, I'm out of ideas then, no wait I have another idea, you two can train him, if he wants it." Michi nodded frantically. Deidara and Itachi exchanged looks, and then they saw the pleading in Max's eyes and practically melted.

"Fine but if he can't keep up then we have the right to cut him loose after three weeks," proposed Deidara.

"Deal, I got to go, good luck, have fun, see ya later," Max quickly hugged the three of them and disappeared. Michi looked at them questioningly and Itachi sighed, it was so like Max not to explain every thing and leave it to him.

Meanwhile Max was smirking as she ran back to Konoha. that would teach them to not tell her that they knew her secret. They should know better, especially around her.

--

Please review


	10. Back to Hogwarts and some Music

Dude, I can't believe how bad this chapter was. I really should have found a beta reader but hen I wouldn't have improved on my own.

All better now.

--

It was a couple weeks after Naruto's birthday, for the day Max had requested and been granted permission to take him away for the day. It was now the 30th of October. A day before Halloween. For some reason Max was tense, she couldn't explain the feeling, Laura had the same feeling. What ever it was, it couldn't be good.

Two days later it was explained. Dumbledore turned up. Max was summoned as ANBU to Tsunade's office. She saw the old man and realised he was up to something.

"Ookami reporting for duty," she announced appearing by the window.

"At ease," responded Tsunade, Max relaxed but didn't remove her mask. She glance around the room properly and noticed the faint glimmers of magic.

"Why did you cast a spell, wizard?"

"It's merely a translating charm"

"Can you prove that?"

"Yes, there's no need to be so paranoid," he cast a spell that lit up the charm.

"Being paranoid is part of my job," was Max's reply.

"Back to business," interrupted Tsunade.

"Does this person need to be here," enquired Dumbledore.

"She's my best person at looking over contracts, she stays," said Tsunade in a voice that dared him to disagree.

"Ah yes, I wish to rehire the ninja group from last year. There have been attacks on students and I need people to protect them and find the source."

"Are you sure you want all of the group from last year?" Max was testing him, if he still wanted all of them including her then he was defiantly up to something

"Yes, they were quite efficient at their jobs, I had a bit of a problem with one but I'm sure it can be sorted." Max narrowed her eyes.

"Ryuu is unavailable so Ookami will be the only ANBU, but she is quite capable, rates are the same as last year. Which ninja did you have the problem? If you have a problem with one of mine then I need to sort it." said Tsunade firmly, she was not giving Dumbledore any leeway to try to manipulate her kids. She had guessed it was Max but she wanted to be sure.

"The one called Maxine Hakie." Max had to try really hard to not kill him where he stood

"Ah, why so?"

"She seems to have some problems with authority and I would like permission to give her objectives as part of the mission that she would have to obey." Max was practically growling until Tsunade gave her a look.

"I apologise for Ookami's behaviour but she and Max are good friends. I would have to think about this request, I shall talk to Max. With these conditions she may refuse to undertake the mission, I give my ninjas a choice for high ranking missions like this." Max was cheering mentally as she notice Dumbledore drop his mask as he panicked, for his plan to work he needed Max. She went back to looking over some paper work clearly implying he was dismissed.

"Ok, I would like an answer by the end of the day though," he said before departing after taking the hint. Tsunade smirked, she still had that touch. Max removed her Mask once she had made sure the place was secure.

"So how did you annoy him?" grinned Tsunade as she took a sip of her sake.

"I kinda waited until the contract had ended and kidnapped Harry away from his abusive relatives. Dumble didn't agree and wanted to take him back. We had foreseen this and told him to go and play in traffic," she recounted.

"Would you agree to his terms?"

"Hell no, I'm not taking orders form someone who sentences a child to a place where he's abused. When I went to kidnap him he was covered in bruises and cuts. His door had numerous locks to keep him in and he had a cat flap to receive food and water. He even had bars on his windows"

"How about this; I will allow him to give you one order to obey and only one. The order may not ask for more and it has to be approved by me. You have to behave but if you find Harry or any other child like that you may do as you deem necessary," suggested Tsunade knowing Max would probably take the offer and find a loop hole in Dumbledore order. Max thought about it for a bit.

"If you can get him to double the price for hiring me then deal." She replaced her mask as Tsunade called Dumbledore back in and related the terms. Dumbledore immediately agreed to the raise in price and Max created a clone of her normal self to walk in.

"You wanted to see me," her clone asked standing to attention, purposefully giving Tsunade respect while ignoring Dumbledore's presence.

"Mr Dumbledore wishes to hire you and the others again but there is a condition for you, you will obey one of his orders specifically for you as well as the contract"

"What is this order?"

"Do not associate with Harry or Draco, you may talk but not for long and only in the passing, but not hang around them, you are a bad influence on them." Max snorted, she was a bad influence on anyone. She voice her opinion too

"I'm a bad influence on anyone who can be influenced, and people who can't"

"Max," said Tsunade in a warning tone.

"That's my name... except when it's something else, and then it's not my name. Aw crap, I've confused myself again." Max knew that Dumbledore was probably questioning her sanity.

Neither adult seemed to have realized Max had just changed the subject. Well Tsunade probably noticed but she wasn't going to hinder Max on a mission. Max made her clone start glaring at the wall, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

She didn't know why she was acting strange but she suspected it had something to do with the drink Laura gave her that morning that tasted a bit like alcohol. At least she could move the strangeness to her clone and keep her ANBU persona up. Or it was the fact she was not completely sane, the alcohol only enhanced the insanity. It wouldn't surprise people, most people in ANBU past or present had sanity issues and seeing as Max wasn't that sane to begin with, things weren't likely to get better.

"So are we agreed?" asked Dumbledore to Max's clone who was still glaring at the wall

"To what?" was Max's vacant response.

"My term." Max's clone pondered for a few second then its facial expression brightened and then fell.

"Can I kidnap him at the end of the year?" she asked meekly.

"No." Was the straight answer. Max had expected that.

"I take that as my only order from you, so I can talk to Draco and Harry during the year." Max was sticking out her tongue at the old wizard.

"But… that wasn't the order." Dumbledore realized he had been out done by a child.

"Tough, it stands," said Max's clone firmly, any signs of a vacant look was gone. Tsunade sighed and nodded in agreement.

"You underestimated her, bad move," said Tsunade lightly chuckling. Dumbledore sighed in defeat, plotting in his mind how to rectify this.

"Some of the ninjas you hire last time cannot make this, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Ryuu, Ed and Shino will not be able to participate, but due to the mission reports from last time the remaining shinobi and Kunoichi should be able to handle it." Dumbledore nodded, less people he had to stop from finding out secrets.

Tsunade dismissed Max and her clone after the contract had been finalized. Max headed home to discuss the year with Laura, and spread the details of the mission and how they were going to do this thing.

"So he asked you to stay away from them, but you tricked him." Max obviously hadn't gotten to the second part yet.

"Yup and I was vague, I didn't specify who I was not to kidnap so I will take great delight in not kidnapping Ron at the end of this year"

"So what are we doing about the basilisk?"

"I say we leave it be but make an obvious effort to prevent the petrifaction"

"And mess around with the diary I wonder how it would react to slash fiction," mused Laura.

Three days later they were back on Earth. Once again Max was acting as two people but she didn't mind, it meant she could creep people out easily.

It was another two days until they got to Hogwarts. They were met by Hagrid who led them to the thestral drawn carriages. Naturally they brought up questions, most of which were answered by Max or Laura. Personally Max found them amazing and wanted one as a pet. The argument was somewhat amusing between Max and Laura.

Eventually they reached the castle and entered the great hall. Attention was drawn to them when Max exaggeratedly gasped.

"Holy 'shroom on a pole, it's Lockhart!" Naturally the vain man smile charmingly and was about to say something when Max continued.

"They let a fake like you near children, Dumbledore's going senile!" she exclaimed, most of the males in the hall sniggered and the ninjas joined in. Lockhart turned red and the smile dropped. Dumbledore rose from his seat ready to give a speech but Max wasn't finished.

"What kind of person defeats 'dark' creatures yet has a favorite color of pink?"

"It's actually lilac," Lockhart feebly pointed out, Max had taken the wind out of his sails pretty quickly.

"Yea that makes it sooooo much better, like I read the books of a fake anyway, come on he supposedly defeated them all but with out a scratch or another person as a witness. Even I can't do that!"

"…"

"I'm kidding, jeez"

"Well-"

"He wears pale blue and perms his hair, his sense of style is close to Dumbledore's and worse than Naruto's, and he flounces around like a princess. And he's going to teach defense against the dark arts, I pity the world, for a monster has been created," finished Max with her head solemnly bowed.

"Obviously this girl has been reading too many fiction books"

"Most of them were yours," cracked Max.

"She needs help-"

"We know that," piped up Laura, it wasn't anything new.

"I'm willing to help-" he said glaring at them daring them to interrupt. Daring a ninja isn't wise.

"Hell no, I need help, not fakers trying to convince me they're legit"

"She's so delusional she doesn't understand she's turning down my generous offer"

"Yeah I'm sure the paper would love to hear about it just so you can gain popularity, stupid attention whore"

"Max, be silent," ordered Dumbledore.

"Only because I want to save insults for the lessons"

"If this behavior continues then you won't be attending the defense lessons"

"Score!" cheered Max.

"SIT DOWN" roared Dumbledore. The ninjas headed to their tables sniggering. At the Slytherin tabled Max exchanged some high fives. The first years seemed awestruck, they had heard rumours of Max and the things she had done. Max missed the speech about their return due to the fact she was taping out a random beat using her spoon and fork on her plate.

The beat just so happened to belong to the song 'Dude looks like a lady', some of the muggleborns who could hear it were laughing, much to Dumbledore annoyance. One of the older ones had even started to quietly sing.

"Be quiet," seethed Dumbledore, the hall quieted down. Max was looking to happy, this year was going to be great.

-

Two days later Max was already in trouble again.

"Max where's your home work?" was the question of the day.

"My broomstick ate it.," For some reason Flitwick didn't believe her.

"Why is this essay written in German?" was McGonagall's question.

"Stop writing you homework in Japanese," Sprout reprimanded her.

"Or any other language." Flitwick again.

"No made up ones aren't allowed either." Ah poor Snape.

It was a week later Max was called to Dumbledore's office.

"Max, I've had a meeting with the other teachers and they've agreed that you should attend anger management here is you counsellor, Healer Bob." The healer led Max to a disused classroom.

"My name is Healer Bob, I'm here to help you with your issues"

"What kind of parent names their kid 'Healer'?" Max asked.

"That's my job title not my name"

"Ok, can I call you Jim?"

"No"

"Aw pleeeeaaase"

"No. Why do you get angry then?" said Bob trying to get on task.

"I don't get angry, they just don't like me," Max pouted as if it really hurt deeply.

"Why don't you pretend you have a personal bubble? No one can touch you in your bubble"

"Can I have a cube instead?"

"No"

"I don't want a bubble!" Max could see Bob was developing a twitch in his left eye.

"You will have a bubble and like it!" growled Bob.

"But I don't like bubbles; they're creepy, all round like and spherical!" Bob sighed and produced a container of muggle bubble mix. He removed the plastic wand and started to create bubbles. This caused Max to run screaming from the class room.

"Argh! The bubbles are out to get me!" She only stopped when Laura stuck her head out a classroom to see what the yelling was about. When she saw Max running from some guy with bubbles she grabbed Max as she passed and pulled her into the class room, which just so happened to be Lockhart's. Max looked between the door and Lockhart.

"I'll take the bubbles." She dashed back out and continued running screaming down the corridors. She hadn't noticed that the healer wasn't chasing her anymore. At lunchtime she was cornered by Laura, Harry and Draco.

"Spill"

"I had to go to anger management, he told me to pretend I had a bubble. I don't like bubbles so he started chasing me with some"

"Why don't you like them?"

"When I was small I accidentally swallowed some I was hiccupping bubbles for ages like something out of a cartoon," explained Max, the others couldn't help it they broke down giggling.

"Laugh it up, I shall get my revenge"

A bit later after that Max was cornered again by Laura.

"Was any of that true?" Laura asked.

"Of course not, I'm a pathological liar, you know that"

-

Three days later a prank had been played specific people had random songs following them. No one was impressed except the twins. Snape looked murderous when he had the 'Numa Numa' song following him around. Max had even charmed herself to try to act like a victim.

She made one mistake. Lockhart's song was 'Dude looks like a lady'. Now everyone guessed it was her doing. Some people had songs that alternated. Like Harry had 'It's my life' and 'Hakuna Matata'.

No one could walk passed Flitwick without laughing. His was 'I'm walking on sunshine'. It was better then McGonagall's, which was 'Animal I've become', everyone else found it funny because she was an Animagus.

Most of them were ironic Laura had 'Parallel worlds', anyone who decided to hero worship Harry had 'Holding out for a hero' so Colin had it the most. Max had decided on 'Freak on a Leash' for herself.

What the ninjas really found funny was Sakura's song every time she started fawning over Sasuke. Max had decided on 'Vacation' for her.

She was now on the run from the pink haired emo worshiper who was screeching at the top of her voice while Max was yelling. "Argh, fan girl mating call of the duck haired emo." and "back evil demon".

-

Needless to say everyone had lightened up some what about the attacks. Every one was in a cheery mood for the Gryffindor Quiddich match on Saturday. When the bludger went rogue, Max figured she would have to wait it out. At the end of the game Max ran to Harry so to prevent him from having his arm vanished. As Lockhart approached Max withdrew her wand. Any bladed weapons would have drawn attention that she didn't want.

"Don't come any closer," she threatened, the dumbass professor ignored her.

"I can fix these bones in a jiffy so don't worry," he said to Harry smiling. Max frowned and looked at her hand half excepting it to be invisible. When she saw it wasn't she turned to see Lockhart begin to swish his wand and cast the full body bind on him. Immediately she was set upon by McGonagall.

"How dare you attack a teacher? Explain your self," she demanded.

"He was about to vanish Harry's bones in his arm and I don't think Harry would like to have his right arm regrown"

"You have no proof"

"I saw the wand movements and hear the beginning of the incantation," reasoned Max.

"Still, detention for attacking a teacher. Now remove the body bind"

"I can't, I never learnt the counter charm," said Max sheepishly. McGonagall sighed and waved her wand unbinding the fake do-gooder. She turned to berate Max when Lockhart stopped her.

"She was being impulsive if it wasn't for impulse I wouldn't have defeated the vampires," smiled Lockhart

"But you didn't. Besides I'd rather ruin my record of no detentions than be saved by you." Madam Pomfrey had arrived and was patching up Harry.

"No detentions… but not for lack of trying on the staff's side. The detention will be at seven pm tonight," snorted McGonagall, she then turned on her heel and stalked off. Laura, who had been watching, was laughing so hard she almost fell over. Max noticed and was about to leave when she saw a chain of events she may never forget.

Naruto came barrelling towards Max, past Laura, he accidentally jolted Laura who had no balance because she was laughing so hard so she fell over onto Sasuke how was standing next to her. Some how Laura managed to land on top of Sasuke. He tried to sit up in surprise only for their lips to join.

Silence fell as Max tried to understand what had just happened; when it registered Max couldn't help but laugh. Before she fell into hysterics she grabbed her camera and took a few pictures for her black mail collection.

The two on the floor separated and were glaring at Naruto and Max, Naruto for knocking into Laura and Max for finding it so damn funny. They all stopped when they heard a loud screech. Apparently Sakura had seen too.

"How dare you kiss Sasuke-kun you bitch," screeched Sakura she pulled Laura back by the hair and went to punch her only to have her hand stopped. Max began to crush Sakura's hand. Even though Sakura was Tsunade's apprentice Max knew that the punches needed momentum for the trainees, so if stopped early enough they could stop the attack.

She knew if it had been Tsunade it would not have worked but Sakura had only had just over a year of training then a year of not.

"Don't even think about it," she growled increasing the pressure causing Sakura to release the grip on Laura's hair. Max shoved Sakura away releasing her hand. "It is foolish to attack someone who has a friend watching their back," growled Max. Sakura huffed and stalked off. Max's stoic face cracked into a big smile.

"Aw my little Laurakins is growing up," she said dodging the swipe made towards her. Max wondered why Sasuke wasn't doing anything only to see he hadn't moved. He was still lying on the floor supported by his arms.

"I think you broke him, great now we need a new team mate," said Naruto walking over to Sasuke and poking him with a foot. It startled Sasuke enough to get him to snap out of his daze.

"Welcome back to the land of the non-love-struck, Naruto here will check you passport and if it isn't valid than I shall kick your ass." People looked at Max like she was insane.

"What, have I grown a third head?"

"You have a second one?"

"No, I don't want a second one I just want the third," said Max like it was obvious. Once again she had successfully distracted people from what had just happened. As they walked back up Max took a detour towards the room of requirement. She wanted to see what it could do.

When she got to it she walked past thinking about a ball pond, when the door appeared she opened it and dived in. She couldn't resist, she loved ball ponds. She spent the next hour investigating what she could do with the room.

The space she could make was limited and she could only make what was physically or magically possible. She could only ask for a book that the room had seen, or something she knew to the letter. Electricity couldn't work but if Max made up a box with a screen it would work but only from Max's knowledge.

The rest of the term passed and Max hadn't turned up to any of the defence lessons except the one with pixies. She only turned up to insult the competence of Lockhart. Ok maybe to pinned most of the pixies to the walls, but then again so had any other ninjas in the room.

--

Please review


	11. Christmas invasion

chapter 11 already, wow

thanks to my rewiewers you reveiws always make me feel loved

--

Life was back to normal for the moment, well as normal as you get when Max and Laura are mucking around with any time line they can get their hands on. Since the Quiddich match Sasuke seemed to be acting strange, he would space out at random moments, especially when Laura was around.

Max was getting the feeling that love was in the air, but she didn't want Laura hurt. Deciding to confront Sasuke about it, she dragged said boy to the room of requirement, wanting a place to talk.

"Why did you drag me here?"

"To warn you, if you hurt Laura I will kill you!" the glint in Max's eye said that she would team mate or not.

"But there's nothing between us!" he avoided looking at her, there was something in how he was behaving that spoke for him. ANBU training did that, part of it was observing mannerisms and working out what they meant.

"You like her." it wasn't a question and the slight tint in Sasuke's cheeks answered her question. Max was inwardly sniggering and wishing that she could take a photo without ruining the mood she had created.

"Don't lead her on or pretend to like her, if you do you can kiss reviving your clan goodbye." with that she made her dramatic exit.

From the fun they were having Max didn't want the term to end. Alas it was not to be Christmas was coming and Max and Laura had already mucked up the time line, not much could be certain.

As it happened, Harry, Max and Laura were invited to Malfoy Manor for Christmas. After an intense debate with Dumbledore they were allowed. Itachi had gone to Hogwarts for the holidays to make up for Max not being there.

Max had used several completely made up points but after being a ninja you can make it sound genuine with ease. After that meeting both girls made a mental note to learn how to protect their minds. Max may have tried but it only allowed her to see haw battered her mind shield came out even after the gleaning that Dumbledore had done.

One of the conditions was one of the guards was to go with them so Max made a clone go with them on the train. The whole ride was spent discussing random things from lessons to Quiddich. Some how the topic got onto birthdays, everyone knew Harry's, Laura had hers on the 5th of January, Draco's was June 5th. Max however refused to give hers, she didn't like her birthday and it was never celebrated, in this world or the other world.

At the station they quickly were whisked away to the manor and shown around, the rest of the day they played Quiddich two on two and argued about the best sport.

"I'm telling you nothing beats ice hockey it's so violent and the atmosphere it so cool and the chants are awesome too." Max argued saying Quiddich was the best sport had crossed the line.

"Quiddich is so much better; I mean it's a sport on brooms." yes that was Draco's amazing argument

"Ice skating is on ice with blades on the shoes, it takes more skill than riding a broom so ergo is better!" said Laura, out of all of them she was probably the best ice skater, but then again they didn't know if ninja training helped Max enough so she didn't have to grip the sides most of the way around.

"In Quiddich you have more players and more balls." Laura had choked on her drink from that.

"You might as well have several games it's not as intense as ice hockey every things focused on the puck not on several different parts."

"How about this at some point we see a game of both and decide then." Placated Harry before the debate grew into a rivalry. Just the Mr Malfoy came out after listening for half an hour on the debate.

"That's an excellent idea I just so happened to have tickets for the Hollyhead Harpies vs. Chudly Cannons game but I'm afraid I don't know much of ice hockey to be able to know a place but I'm open for suggestions even if it is a muggle sport." both Max and Laura's minds were going into over drive.

"That's fine we can go to surrey watch the Guildford flames, their awesome and in case you hadn't guessed we support them!" said Laura.

"I suppose that's acceptable." That's how three days later they were sitting in the stands watching Guildford flames vs. Romford raiders in the playoffs. (I know it the wrong kind of date as it would be in March not December but deal with it.)

They had gone swimming at the Guildford spectrum first while Malfoy senior was on business somewhere. Both Max and Laura had dunked both of the boys at random points and gone down the slides racing. Max had been forbidden from using charka to muck around with the water. All in all they had, had fun. The match had been awesome the flames won 3 – 0 because they rule.

The next day they had gone to the Quiddich match, to compare, the harpies won 370 – 20, the two goals by the cannons were flukes. The rest of the day had been spent debating again.

They spent a day wandering around London shopping for presents separately, somehow Max had persuaded Malfoy senior to let them. By some means she had gotten blackmail on him already.

Christmas was a fun affair, Max had gotten Laura hyper and both were bouncing around at 6 in the morning. They currently having a snowball fight, the presents would be exchanged later, when Malfoy senior walked out to them.

"Max, Laura there's a… talking raven asking for you." Malfoy senior looked a bit shaken at seeing a talking animal that just threatened him. Max was panicking inside, it was a very little known fact that Itachi had a contract with the ravens.

Itachi wouldn't use a summon unless something was badly wrong. They saw the raven race at them and Max caught it and took the scroll and unsealed it. As she read the Japanese words her face lost its colour. Laura took the scroll and read it and she too went pale.

"What's the quickest way back to Hogwarts?" asked Max her voice steady but only just

"I can floo you to your head of year's office."

"Can you do that please, we have an emergency that we need to sort out" he nodded and they headed inside with the two boys following. They stepped into the fire and called out "Head of Slytherin's office, Hogwarts" and were whisked away. As soon as Max had gone her clone disappeared as well.

Back at Hogwarts they ran to the headmaster's office to see the rest of the ninjas anxiously waiting. Ryuu was standing at the back and Max made her ANBU clone appear next to him. The head master stood to address them

"I have received word that your village is under attack, I have a portkey to the mountain were they will let you through to aid your village, note that the underage detector doesn't work on other planets." with those words her passed along a piece of string to all of them and taped it with his wand, he was a bit surprised at the lack of reaction but he didn't realise how well these ninjas worked under pressure with many surprises.

They landed in the gate room far enough away not to get caught when the wormhole activated but close enough so they wouldn't lose time.

"Good luck!" came from the room above and they moved through the gate. On the other side they passed trough the Earth base that had been set up and headed to the village at top speed.

When they got there they immediately attacked from behind to surprise the attackers. Max saw red as she saw the sound ninjas were the ones attacking. She had unsealed her scythe and all of her group attacked.

To help the intimidation and boost moral on their side both Max and Itachi created clones of ANBU, including their old team and they made their assault on the invaders. The group threw jinxes and hexes not just Justus and weapons. Max sliced through the sound ninjas by the dozens, using one hand to wield her scythe and the other to shoot of hexes.

They knew they wouldn't stop the invaders, they weren't skilled enough at mass attacks, but they would at least give Konoha a better chance to get their forces together for a counter attack.

Max felt a familiar chakra and found Anko being attacked b a large group of the sound ninjas, she had been returning from a mission and had been ambushed by the group.

Max jumped in and started hexing people, mostly stunning them but blowing holes in them was much more fun, especially when she levitated some of the stunned bodies to use as shields against some of the projectiles.

Laura was constantly healing people as they got injured and throwing hexes when she could. During the defence lessons she had been reading up on healing magic to further her healing abilities. Max would need all the help she could get.

Max told the rest of her team that she would be back to help later and headed to the village killing all sound ninjas in her path to see how the actual village was faring until she saw something that made her stop.

The purple walls from the chunin exams, the ones that the snake Sannin had used to trap the third had materialised in a section of the village. This couldn't be good. Using her ANBU persona, glad she had her garb on her; she appeared beside the three ANBU who were watching the purple enclosed area.

"Report!" she asked. They turned to her and noticed her mask and gulped.

"The sound attacked, we don't know why but we think he was after the Uchiha survivor but no one knows were he is."

"He's on a high class mission, long term, continue." Max was panicking a bit since Sasuke had come back with them, this was bad and getting worse.

"The third challenged Orochimaru to give the civilians time to hide and they're both in the area we can't get in, it's like the chunin exams but we don't have someone on the inside and the third never recovered fully from the chunin exams he may not survive." Defiantly worse, she hadn't save the third once only to have him die now, he still had so much to live for, Jiraiya's next book was coming out in a month.

"What about the fifth?" asked Max, she need to know where she was needed most.

"She's handling the brunt of the attack but the third needs help to we just can't get in." Max had a brainwave, she had used the defence lessons to study apparating and had done it a few times, so theoretically she should be able to.

She hadn't tried it through a wall and it would be bad if she splinched herself, she didn't even know if it would get her past the barrier. She resolved herself, dying would be annoying but she was confident it would work.

"I'm going to try and get in, I don't know if this will work but if it doesn't, well, living was nice while it lasted." Max said before concentrating on what she had read in the book and the way she had done it before.

She had an image of where she wanted to be firmly in her head and she focused on all her body parts moving to that location and with a burst of magic she felt like she was being squeezed through a tiny tube. She appeared with a loud crack and quickly used her light bending jutsu as she checked she was whole.

Fortunately she was in one piece but she didn't know her luck would not last. She stood in the area looking for the source of fighting using FA as binoculars, trying to keep out of the fighting but she wasn't constantly looking around, this proved to be bad.

She moved from her spot scoping out the area looking for something to use to her advantage. She was noticed by the two fighters.

"So the wolf had come back, how did you get in this time? You made a loud enough noise doing it."

"Like I would give away my secrets, I protect my secrets not flaunt them." sneered Max

"Ookami get out of here." croaked the third, Max noticed he wasn't faring to well and headed over to him only to have her way blocked by Orochimaru.

"Not so fast, I think you and I need to discuss things!"

"Wait you think, that's a miracle." retorted Max

"Don't try my patience as I have little left."

"Or what?" Max saw the freakishly long tongue dart towards her and started to move, dodging it, she weaved in and out of the trees attempting to tie the tongue in knots. It didn't work it didn't follow her after a while and headed her off and grabbed her wrapping her up in its pinkness her arms held against her sides and began to bring her to the snake Sannin

"Do you know how gross this is!" she said trying to ignore the fact she was extremely grossed out, Orochimaru just grinned, as much as he could with his tongue sticking out. She was now being held in the air about five meters from the snake Sannin.

"You are truly interesting, I'm sure you will be a fine specimen." mused Orochimaru causing Max to blanch.

"Hell no!" she squirmed around trying to get loose. She managed to reach her wand and apperate out, this proved to be a bad move as she was disorientated for a bit having used up to much energy in the last hour fighting. She barley saw the head come to wards her and she felt a searing pain in her shoulder.

Her last thoughts were 'crap, I walked right into this, Kakashi's gonna kill me' as she felt herself losing consciousness from the power put into the seal now placed on her shoulder. The purple wall faded in sections as the sound four readied themselves to head out.

On one of the roofs the third was lying, bleeding from some wounds as the ANBU rushed to his aid. None of them saw the snake Sannin move in the other direction with a figure over his shoulder.

Out side the area the Leaf ninjas were faring well but if it carried on much longer it might change favour. The purple wall dissolved completely as Orochimaru made his retreat with Max, he had plans to get her onto his side but seeing her loyalty to the leaf, his curse mark wouldn't work as effectively if she stayed in that environment with her friends, he had seen how things were and knew she had two lives.

He handed her over to a sound ninja to take back to base as he moved onto his second objective, finding Sasuke. What he didn't count on was an ANBU fighting alongside. 'Why can't things be simple?' thought Orochimaru as he snuck in to the fight and quickly bit the Uchiha survivor to create the seal if the ANBU hadn't been there he would have fought for a bit to get ideas into his head about defecting. But after fighting Max he didnt know how good the ANBU were.

'At least with this one the mind corrupting part will work because the fact his clan was killed so now he just wants power' were Orochimaru's thought before ordering a retreat, his work here done.

--

reveiw please and i shall update instead of playing Ninety Nine Nights


	12. Prisoner of the insolent kind

Redone due to bad grammar and wrongful uses of punctuation

There is a bit of difficult to describe stuff in here.

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The aftermath of the battle was cleaner than the invasion during the chunin exams as it was only in the outskirt that the majority of the battle had been fought. Laura had been helping heal people, part of FIN training was a basic medical course, then she had taken an intermediate course just because she knew the nurses got sick of seeing Max, so if she learnt a few things then Max wouldn't have to see them so often. Then there was the magic she had learnt so she did a load of helping. The others had been helping with the repercussions of some of the battles.

Itachi, since he couldn't really do much without raising questions, went to find Max and make sure she hadn't done something stupid like last time and exhaust herself. So naturally he went to the hospital first. He wasn't sure what to think when he found she wasn't there. Did that mean she was fine and hadn't done something stupid or was she passed out somewhere or even dead?

Kakashi had found Sasuke passed out by the scene of a battle with Sakura fawning over his unconscious body and after seeing the seal he took him straight to the hospital to contain the seal. Some part of him was wondering were Max was, surely she would have been around to stop this, her team was like family.

Tsunade was in her office waiting for Max to report in about the battle and the mission they were on. She had stabilized the Third but they were still unsure if he would last the week but it was out of their hands and they could do no more. She was startled out of her thoughts were she saw the dragon masked ANBU appear in front of her. This was slightly worrying; Max should at least be there since she was leader on the mission.

"Where is Ookami?" asked Tsunade.

"I was about to asked you that. I haven't seen her since we reached the village, she went ahead to see how the ninjas defending the place were doing but she never returned." reported Itachi. He was a bit more than worried now but there was a chance Max was just out helping.

"It is possible she was killed."

"I doubt she was killed, she wouldn't let a bunch of sound ninjas keep her from living." They were interrupted by another ANBU shushining in.

"Ookami was last seen outside the purple barriers in which the Sannin and the third where battling and attempted something. I thing she found a way through but after that she wasn't seen when the barrier went down, the third might have seen what happened but he's still unconscious and their was no sign of her. I found this on the ground inside the area," informed the ANBU having heard the question. In his hand he held Max's scythe which was all that most of the occupants had taken in.

"She hasn't been seen since and before she headed off she said she would come back but never did," said Itachi, he didn't like the look of this, Max with out her scythe was like Kakashi without porn or Naruto without ramen.

"That leaves three possibilities, one, she's dead and the snake Sannin took her body to figure out some of her secrets, two, she was knocked unconscious and kidnapped or three, she defected and went with him of her own free will," said Tsunade, she rubbed her temples waiting for the inevitable.

"She would never defect! It's not possible, she would die before betraying this village, besides she would never leave her scythe behind its too precious to her!" defended Itachi.

"We don't know that for certain," said the other ANBU, just as he said that Kakashi turned up.

"Who may have defected?" he asked

"Ookami." Kakashi's eye widened briefly before he regained his composure.

"Ookami? That's not possible, she has so many friends here, people who are like siblings, she wouldn't ever defect, are there any other possibilities?" asked Kakashi, denying the option that Max had defected, the day she defected of her own free will he would stop reading porn of his own free will. That shows how firmly he believed it.

"She's either defected, dead or been kidnapped." was the blunt answer.

"By who?"

"Orochimaru." Kakashi's eye widened again, how many times had he told her not to pick fights with him. She should have known that one day her luck would run dry.

"She would never defect to him, she hated him!" said Kakashi.

"We can't rule out the other possibilities out with so little evidence."

"You have evidence, that scythe shows she didn't leave of her own free will!"

"She may have left it to deceive us; she is highly intelligent so she might have done we can't rule out the option. Chances are though even if she is being held against her will Orochimaru was working on mind altering techniques so even if she did escape it would be doubtful that she would even be herself," said Tsunade she knew what would have to be done but she really didn't want to.

"If in one week she hasn't returned, Kage Ookami also known as Maxine Hakie, unless evidence is found that she is dead, is an S-class missing Nin to be incapacitated and returned to Konoha or failing that killed on sight unless you know for absolute certain she is defeated and can't do any damage. The hunter Nins will be sent out as soon as we can spare some." It killed a bit of Itachi and Kakashi to hear this and Tsunade knew this however the safety of the village had to be put first.

By the end of the next day every one knew of Max's new status but only a select few knew why. Most of the genin of her graduating class's both times didn't think she would ever do anything worth that kind of status. The people of the house she lived in had been told and none of them believed for one second that Max had defected of her own will, they were very verbal in the matter but stopped when Tsunade threatened them with d-ranks.

By the end of the week there hadn't been a sign of Max so her new status came into force. None of them knew she was unaware of it as she still hadn't woken up.

Laura and Louise didn't know what to think, their best friend was now a missing Nin to be effectively killed on sight. The only good thing was they now knew when her birthday was. Haku and Zabuza didn't believe it either; she had no reason to defect, if she didn't like the village she wouldn't have taken them here.

Anko was plain pissed, Max was in the hands of her former sensei and by now probably had the seal. She was getting abuse from a load of people. They blamed her for Max's disappearance, she wasn't the only ones, any one who lived in the house were treated as if they would defect any second.

In the Sound village, Max lay unconscious in a dank room with chakra absorbing shackles attacked to her wrists and ankles, unaware of her new status as missing Nin. Inside her body there was a fierce battle going on between the wolf and the cursed seal for control.

It was one of the reasons that Orochimaru hadn't tried to bite Naruto, but since not many know of Max's tenant he didn't know the consequences. Her cursed seal took the form of the outline of a seven pointed star with a small dot at the points.

On Earth at Malfoy manor, Harry and Draco had been told that Max and Laura had an emergency at their home village so had to return along with the others. Both girls' presents had been put some where safe so they could have them when they returned.

Harry had sent a letter a few days after Christmas describing what had happened after they left and sent it with Hedwig. Hedwig was defiantly a smart owl as she flew to the SGC to deliver the message to someone who could pass it on.

It was a week later when Max woke up covering in a cold sweat, her weapons, scrolls, mask and wand were missing. Her hands were attached to chains on opposite walls just short enough so Max couldn't put her hands together to for seals.

Her Henge had dropped since she couldn't get the chakra to reapply it and once she had been knocked out it had fallen. Somehow Orochimaru must have known that she had woken up as the door opened minutes later to reveal snake face himself.

"What do you want?" she rasped, her throat raw from disuse. She was glaring at him trying to figure out a million things at once.

"I'm just here to congratulate you!" he said a smirk on his face.

"Why?"

"Your new status as S-class missing nin from the village of Konoha of course!" Max was shocked, no, she was more than shocked her mind was down right denying it. Orochimaru's smirk grew as he removed something from a hidden pocket and held it in front of her face.

It was a bingo book, open on her page with her details it had three pictures, one of her natural look, one of the face she carried during her first time as a genin and a picture of her mask. He threw it down in front of her, this couldn't have worked out better if he had tried. Now she had no reason to return.

He didn't expect the next words that came out of her mouth.

"You just gave away the best kept secret, you know that?"

"What secret?" the snake Sannin was genuinely confused

"Until now my birthday remained unknown."

"You've just become a missing nin and all you care about is the fact that people know your birthday!" The glare directed at him answered the question.

Max was still disbelieving her new status. Every day Orochimaru came in with a tray of food and after a few days he stopped to chat.

"So how are you doing?"

"It was going great then you turned up."

"You village has turned its back on you, at the sound village we wouldn't care you could still be one of us," he offered, the seal should have at least got her to doubt her village.

"No."

"You would prefer to be an outcast with no village and no friends."

"I would prefer not to have to listen to you."

This continued every other day he would come in to her cell and offer the chance to join his village.

Back in the leaf village, Max's status had hit some people hard, Laura was still denying it, she had know Max the longest and she would never defect of her own free will. Ever. She became more reclusive that ever and when the ninjas headed back for Hogwarts they were more solemn and reclusive. She was cornered by Draco and Harry.

"Where's Max and why is everyone so down?" demanded Draco.

"I don't want to talk about it!" answered Laura and she tried to push pass.

"We're your friends, we need to know, maybe we can help," suggested Harry.

"You can't help, no one can!"

"At least tell us what happened," commanded Draco.

"Max has been declared rogue," said Laura simple, shocking the other two.

"Why?"

"How?"

"I don't want to talk about it, be glad I told you that much!" By the end of the day most of Hogwarts knew, one of the fifth year Gryffindor had over heard the conversation. The rumours going around got stranger and stranger, one of them said she was really a high class ninja and killed the village leader. Laura then beat up the guy who started it up.

Another week passed and Orochimaru wasn't giving up hope. Max hadn't spoken for the last week and she had barely eaten. He thought she was gradually weakening under the seals pressure. What he didn't know was that she had been working on her mind shield to keep the seal's influence out of her mind.

This was her plan for her unconscious mind. It was made of two glass like globes one inside the other, the outer being thicker with a millimetre gap filled with a cloudy liquid just enough so the invader could see outlines but no details. It was a really clever piece since if someone tried to break in the outer globe would move and connect with the inner globe.

That would cause a reaction setting of defensive measures which include bombardment by figments of Max's warped imagination and both she and the wolf would know about the intrusion and could take measures to stop it. The globes were held up by wires that kept it in place. It had a few other walls surrounding it all different to surprise the invader but it was mostly to bring any intrusion to her conscious mind.

Four more weeks of Max's silence passed and Orochimaru entered but this time he was not alone. Max ignored them and continued staring at the spot on the ground that she had been for the last couple of weeks.

"I have a visitor for you," he called out in a sing song voice. Max's right eye started to twitch.

"…"

"He wanted to see you."

"…"

"You don't want to talk you your old team mate then." At this Max's head shot upright, in the doorway was Sasuke with a smug look on his face. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

"So this is what happened to Max, so much for being ex-ANBU," Sasuke sneered mockingly.

"If you have hurt Naruto I will maim you, slowly and painfully, after I have finished you will need a miracle to revive your clan!" hissed Max, her voice rusty but the threat still hung in the air. She directed her glare at Orochimaru.

"Snake face, bugger off, I want to yell at Sasuke in peace," she growled straining against the chains, he just huffed and walked out.

"I never figured you would leave the village, you have so much there, but you left it for power." Sasuke's eyes widened at the change in tone "Did you ever stop to think that both your brother and Orochimaru learnt most of what they knew from the leaf village? I leaned loads to, and I can hold my own against either indefinitely. So your best chance would have been staying in the village. Did you really miss that fact?" Sasuke was surprised by how Max had switched from being really annoyed to talking as if nothing bad had ever happened.

"I need to kill my brother, he murdered my family."

"Ah you see that's where your wrong, he didn't do it, he was framed. I should know since we were returning from a mission when it happened."

"How come he had the next level of Sharingan?" Max was silent, this brought up memories she would rather forget.

"We had been on our mission, the intel had been wrong so we were running to get back up. We were being pursued, we sent Kakashi on ahead since he was the fastest and one of them sent a jutsu at us, it hit our team leader, neither your brother nor I knew any medical techniques so she was dying. We took her to a safer place, a cave, we knew help wouldn't arrive in time." Max paused to let this sink in.

"She told Itachi to kill her, get the next level so he can protect those that are precious to him. She told us some other things that aren't important. Itachi killed her painlessly and since our team leader was like our best friend and family it evolved the Sharingan. We were each others best friends, when we got back we found out what had happened and everyone was saying Itachi had done it, we needed a spy in Akatsuki so he offered." Max took another pause.

"He left me a scroll with the details, signed by the third so if I needed to tell you I would have proof. I don't have it with me, but if you remember where I live its under my pillow. If you bring it here I can show you, but it needs my blood," Max explained, there were tears in her eyes. Sasuke was shocked, his mind was trying to deny it, but something inside him wanted to believe her. The look on Max's face showed it hurt to bring up the memory. Sasuke knew that Max would never lie about this, it was too detailed to not be the truth. It made so much sense now.

"Who killed my clan then?"

"We never found out, it could have been several people." They slipped into a silence, both thinking.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I was ordered not to unless I really had no other choice, it would have gotten out and your brother's cover would have been blown and he would have been in trouble. I was planning to tell you when you were thirteen despite my orders. Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts on the mission?"

"I asked to go home to fulfil an old family tradition," he answered with a smirk.

"I swear you've been hanging around me to much no wonder you're a Slytherin!" Again they fell into silence.

"How come after the chunin exams he still fought me."

"He had to make it look realistic, why do you think I was taunting him, it would direct the attention to me to allow help to come."

"Why was he wearing nail polish?" Max's face broke into a grin.

"He lost a bet." Max could tell Sasuke wanted to laugh but refused to show it.

"What do we do now?"

"Break out return to the village and get my name cleared."

"You're supposed to be killed on sight unless they know they can take you on."

"That's why someone invented Henge," stated Max.

"All it would take is a ninja to notice and your cover would be blown."

"Not for me dumbass, I will have to call in a favour."

"When do you plan on breaking out?"

"You'll know when the time comes, if I told you now then Orochimaru would find out since I think he's watching my cell but you'll defiantly know." Sasuke didn't like the look on Max's face, it promised pain he just hope it wouldn't be his pain. He glared at her and she glared back. Glaring harder his mouth twisted into a grin. He took a few steps forward and started to scratch behind one of her wolf ears. Max immediately stopped glaring and rubbed against the hand.

"I hate you," she said trying to stop her instinct from betraying her.

"How come your glare is just as good as mine?" he asked removing his hand. Max returned to glaring at him.

"Who was on my team?" asked Max, Sasuke's face lit up when he found the answer, and then he continued to glare at her.

They were interrupted from their glaring war when Orochimaru came in.

"Visiting times are over."

"You make it sound like this is an insane asylum, oh yeah, it is. I mean look the long tongued paedophilic rejected male, and the duck haired emo-avenger, where's the man whore." said Max, her tone was cutting and sharp. Orochimaru only rolled his eyes and walked out followed by Sasuke leaving Max alone to finish the final part of her minds defences.

--

Please review


	13. The Great Escape

Redone

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When Max next opened her eyes something felt off. Looking around everything looked the same but something just didn't click. The door opened the light blinding Max temporarily but then a silhouette blocked it, two figures flanked the central one. They came into focus and Max saw her team, her first one. She knew it wasn't possible, Yuri was dead, Itachi was who knows where and Hana was still in the village.

"This isn't real, you're dead." Somehow Max thought if she verbalised it they would disappear.

"Because you couldn't heal me, you're useless," sneered the Yuri figure.

"I'm not useless; I can do anything you could" Max said firmly, she would not let this get to her.

"You were just a burden to the team, holding us back," said Hana in a snide way behind her the figure of three dogs moved into Max's vision growling.

"You're weak, you'll never become anything more than a dead weight, even my brother is stronger than you," added Itachi, his red eyes glowing. Another two figures joined them Kakashi and Naruto.

"My only weakness is only fear of failure," she said firmly her mind set.

"You are truly pathetic, you only held back your team mates potential if it wasn't for you they would be the best," scorned Kakashi.

"I would be Hokage now if it wasn't for you," added Naruto.

"This isn't real, you aren't real, you're lying," Max stated, her voice wavered a bit as if she wasn't quite believing her own words. The Hokage issue had hit a little close to home. While she could have trained Naruto to surpass everyone physically, he still had other things to learn.

"It's your fault Sasuke joined Orochimaru"

"Ok that just not fair that was his own decision," said Max indignantly. She was not going to let them blame her for that.

"You could have prevented it, but you didn't, you're just a failure"

"I could have done many things but what is done is done, it cannot be changed now"

"You should have thought of your team mates or do you not care. Would you just not help them like you did with me?" scoffed Yuri.

"I can't save everyone, no one can save everyone, it's too much to expect one person to do, I'm a girl not a superhero," said Max her resolve firmed her face was set.

This was defiantly genjutsu but it still hurt the words cut deep. With no chakra it would be hard to get rid of it, the only other option was to cause her pain to snap herself out of it. She moved her head to her hand and bit down she jerked back to reality.

Her supposed team rippled out of existence. Max wiped her damp eye as best she could and was determined herself to get out soon.

The next day she was visited by Orochimaru.

"Join my village and you will be accepted, I'll even train you my self, you can rule at my right hand, together we can be unstoppable"

"I was considering it until you said at your 'right hand'; I don't take orders from any one but the Hokage, even if you became Hokage I would defect."

"How do you even know if the people back at Konoha still like you, you're a missing nin now." Max only tutted and shook her head.

"How many people actually believe that crap, I bet it's your fault," she accused, Orochimaru sneered and left the room only to be replaced by Sasuke.

"It's official, I'm a missing nin too." He didn't look to pleased.

"Lemme guess, you're an E-rank," joked Max.

"No B-rank." 'Ah' Max thought 'he's annoyed that his brother has a higher ranking, wait… so do I.'

"Ha I beat you; I'm an S-rank I am the greatest," crowed Max, apparently that wasn't the best thing to do.

"At least I'm not locked up," mocked Sasuke.

"At least my hair doesn't look like a ducks ass," retorted Max. She could see Sasuke struggle with a come back.

"At least I don't have wolf ears that basically nullify any intimidation"

"Wow you used big words, can you count passed three yet"

"Where do you get these lines?"

"Funnily enough I have a lot of free time on my hands, you know with the fact I'm not able to do much else." Sasuke rolled his eyes and left.

It was three days later Max slid the final part of her defences into place. The seal rebounded of the outer mirror like barrier and consumed itself, leaving only the mark as basically a tattoo. In he mind she giggled, in the other dimension she would never have been allowed a tattoo but here she was with two already.

This left Max feeling disappointed, is she had known it would be that easy she would have done it ages ago. Next she went to the wolf and asked for enough chakra to overload the chains.

"That was easy," said Max as she walked over to the door stretching her muscles. She quickly checked for genjutsu and it came up negative. She had been sitting for who knows how long so would probably need to do quite a bit of train to get back up to par.

The door was just a wooden door which made Max laugh. Just because she had been in chains doesn't mean everything else could be lax. A kick to the lock removed the obstacle.

Max could feel the chakra returning to her quickly, she had to thank the wolf for that. She activated FA in X-ray-like vision mode and looked for Sasuke; she found him seven doors down. She deactivated FA to save her chakra and walked down the hall way. In front of Sasuke's door, she braced her self and kicked the door in.

"Yo Sasuke, we're moving out," she said completely ignoring the fact he was only in his boxers. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to where the door was. He only just managed to grab some clothes on the way. The made a quick stop by a room which held all the stuff they had gotten of Max, it was kind of funny the way Max had started to stroke her mask.

As they left Max kept her wand out, ready to stun anyone who tried to stop them she was mourning the fact that she didn't have her scythe. Max made her way to the exit in record time. Both kids were confused by how she did it, Max's natural sense of direction was pants but at least her map reading made up for it.

It was only as they walked through the forest back to Konoha she realised it reminded her of the layout of her old school. The one that was the representation of her mind which reminded her, she had yet to look in R12, which is where all her strange fantasies were.

The reason they were walking was Max wanted to get a boost on recovering her stamina, show that she meant no harm and it was easier to shove Sasuke into a tree. It just showed how bored Max was. It often started as such:

"Sasuke?" she would innocently ask.

"What?" would be his irritated reply.

"TREE!" she would yell and she shoved him into the nearest tree. Some how she managed to get him to fall for it several times.

They were about an hour and a half away from Konoha when Max suddenly changed direction dragging Sasuke with her, and through a tree, by accident of course. Not fifteen minutes later they came across two clouded cloak wearing ninjas with hats that covered most of their faces.

Sasuke identified them as Akatsuki members. What really freaked him out was the way Max hugged both of them.

"Max, what are you doing here? I thought you captured by the snake Sannin."

"You really think he could hold me for long, I'm like Houdini." The three guys just looked at her.

"Earth thing, Houdini was an amazing escape artist." was her deadpan explanation.

"So what are you planning on doing now?" asked one of the cloaked guys, or at least Sasuke assumed they were both guys.

"One of you two to Henge into a nondescript person and hand me over so I can clear my name."

"And why would we do that?"

"I seem to remember an incident with a dress that I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone to see pictures of," said Max innocently.

"…" Itachi didn't trust himself to speak, he remember the incident all to well.

"Great so now we just need to find the perfect image, I suppose I should introduce you guy's though." The looks she got saying 'no duh' were a tad overwhelming.

"Ok, ok, Sasuke don't freak or you will find yourself embedded into a tree, understood." He nodded sceptically.

"Right then, Sasuke meet Deidara, explodomaniac, Deidara meet Sasuke Itachi's little brother and my team mate and you both should know Itachi." As she made the introductions the two Akatsuki members removed the hats. She could see that Sasuke was indecisive about his brother, and whether he could be trusted.

"Is this wise, they're working for an organisation that kidnaps the containers of the tailed demons."

"I trust them both, even if I didn't I could easily beat them."

"Even after being caught by Orochimaru you're still arrogant," said Itachi, obviously amused.

"I am not arrogant; I just know what I am capable of!"

"You're arrogant," said Itachi in a dismissive tone.

"With pictures of your lovely dress and the means to let everyone see," smirked Max, causing Itachi's face to pale.

"You wouldn't!"

"Is that a dare I hear?"

"…"

"I thought as much anyway, so we don't appear as a threat you will need to fight us or they won't take us seriously so we need to be weakened." The cloak wearing guys shrugged and removed their weapons of choice.

"I'll pair up with Deidara and you two can fight, see who's better, this could be interesting." The two pairs moved a distance apart to get space and as a leaf fell they leapt into action, Max instinctively reached for her scythe only to grasp thin air as she remembered she didn't have it. Unfortunately this gave Deidara the start he needed as Max was unprepared for the barrage of explosives that followed.

"Damn I forgot about my scythe," she groaned as she grabbed a bird and spun it into a tree seconds before it exploded. Thinking fast she prepared her hands for Incendio Cenere, she was glad she had gotten her gloves back since they were fire resistant.

Instead of lighting her hands she attacked in the style very similar to the Hyuuga style but she didn't actually hit the person, she just pushed highly flammable liquids into the clothes. When she was next pushed into a tree she leapt out and sent fire at him.

Deidara dodged most of it but it caught the corner of his cloak and the whole cloak quickly went up in flames only to be doused by water courtesy of Itachi. With a quick glare Max went back on the offensive using two kunai. She hadn't noticed that Deidara had created another clay model until it blasted her through nine trees.

On any other day Max would have just gotten up and carried on as if nothing had happened but since she hadn't kept up with her training and she had only a small percentage of her chakra present she was left as weak as a kitten. The blast had taken most of the chakra and directed it to healing, her wolf gave the impression it was out of energy too.

"I'm beat," she moaned as she tried to stand but only succeeded in falling over again, she crawled over to where the other three were. Itachi and Sasuke were still fighting while Deidara was eating something and watching the fight. How he got popcorn was beyond her.

As Sasuke was thrown into a tree for the sixth time they called it quits. Both kids were picked up and they once again headed to Konoha. Max, after having exhausted herself fell asleep on Itachi's back. Deidara had decided carrying Sasuke would be better for his health, he knew Max held grudges and had the strangest way of getting someone back.

"You so owe me for this," said Itachi as Max fidgeted in her sleep causing him to shift her around again he eventually moved her so she was lying in his arms, he found it kind of cute the way she looked so carefree. Deidara just laughed, Sasuke was still awake and not fidgeting.

Sasuke just wanted to get back and get his name cleared. Max had brought him back to reality, he was still annoyed that she had waited this long to tell him. When they were a mile from Konoha, Itachi and Deidara henged into random people and walked the rest of the mile, if their identities were discovered then they would need all the energy they could get.

Izumo and Kotetsu were on guard duty that day, Kakashi had stopped by to talk to them, they had been reminiscing some of Max's pranks when they had seen the two figures in the distance. When the figures got close enough for the guards to see they rushed over, Kakashi being jounin got there first.

"Max? What's wrong with her? Where did you find her? Who are you?" The torrent of questions were stopped when Max slowly opened her eyes, blinked and then tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Unfortunately it didn't go to plan and she fell out of Itachi's arms onto the floor much to everyone's amusement.

"Why is the ground so damn hard?" groaned the still half asleep Max. It took a while for everything to process and when if finally clicked she shot up and then collapsed due to lack of energy and dizziness from standing up to fast.

"Not gonna try that again in a hurry," she moaned, before she could get up she was hoisted up by Kakashi.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I stood up to fast"

"I meant when you disappeared"

"I don't want to talk about it here, maybe when Tsunade's around so can clear my name and kick Sasuke's ass," Kakashi only then noticed Sasuke being supported by the other stranger.

"You found both of them? How?" he asked suspiciously.

"Listen, 'Kashi if you don't take me to Tsunade now I _will_ burn your book," growled Max, all she wanted was a nice soft bed and let wasn't going to happen until her name was cleared. The five of them headed to the Hokage's tower (Izumo and Kotetsu had a gate to guard).

They got there and went in to see a mountain of paper and a sleeping Hokage.

"Shadow clones help a bunch ya know," said Max. Tsunade shot upright, much like Max had earlier, and gasped. Just to make things better, Anko walked in reporting in from her latest mission. The next thing Max knows she was in a massive hug curtsey of Anko. She had to feel sorry for Sasuke as Sakura had squealed at the sight of him and practically crushed him.

"Hold your horses these are both high ranking criminals I haven't cleared them yet"

"Wait does a B-rank count as high ranking I mean S-rank defiantly does but Sasuke's only a lowly B-rank," asked Max riling up Sasuke.

"Well Max is normal," said Anko cheerfully.

"Hey I've never been normal thank you," said Max.

"Someone, get a Hyuuga, and a Yamanaka, we need to see how far the influence is," ordered Tsunade, Sakura ran to get them eager to help her beloved.

"I feel so sorry for you Sasuke," said Max somberly. Soon the two required people were present and the examination began. Max was cleared, the influence was gone, both Anko and Tsunade were amazed they could clearly see the cursed mark. Sasuke however still had traces of the tainted chakra. Max came to his defense.

"He needs some support, the curse works on negative emotions so we need to make his live more positive. And I can help him and Anko keep its effect under control," she went into a bit of depth in how she did it and they gave in.

They were both suspended from missions for two months and would be watched for behavioural issues. The attention came to Deidara and Itachi, who until that moment had been unnoticed.

"I suppose you'll want the bounty"

"Wait a second, hold the phone; you put a bounty on us, how much was it?"

"The standard bounty for an S rank is 1 million and B rank is 250,000, you should know this"

"I know, but you could have changed it, besides in need to rub it in that I'm better than Sasuke," said Max.

"What happened to being positive?"

"Uh, pass?"

"I'll bypass on the bounties. I'm sure one day these two kids will return the favour," said Itachi, Max couldn't help but think he was planning something. Tsunade nodded and the two disguised missing nins left. All of them but Max and Sasuke were dismissed.

"So, who would like to explain why two missing nins brought you back?"

"Uh….no?" said Max sheepishly she should have known better than to assume Tsunade wouldn't find out, Sasuke groaned and kept silent hoping not to be asked.

"No one?"

"Can I plead insanity?" asked Max hopefully.

"No"

"There goes my plan, how about I say I black mailed them into it so I could get my name cleared and get Sasuke back so I can let other kick his ass too."

"Now that wouldn't surprise me." It was high on the list that the third had left her of what Max had done or was likely to do, along with many other things.

"Good, cos that's what I did," Max said brightly. Tsunade sighed then her face took a conspiratorial look.

"What kind of Blackmail"

"Pictures of when he was small and did something embarrassing, I would say further but part of the deal was me not to tell or show it," said Max solemnly.

"You two are dismissed, you better be on your best behaviour. Max if you can think about how you got rid of the seal, write it down so we can help others, before you ask, the others are still on the Hogwarts mission, they're due back two months after your ban finishes. You may write you them but your mail will be screened." The two kids nodded and left.

Max was only half way home before she got ambushed by Kakashi and Anko who decided to check make sure she was fine. That was until Max got annoyed and threatened then with a flame filled hand. Then Max got a lecture on being too cocky and picking fights will a Sannin. The first thing Max did hen she got back was to grab a few pieces of blank paper to write letters. First one was defiantly to Laura, out of everyone she needed to know the most.

_Laura_

_You would not believe what happened._

_Ok, you would, the strangest things happen so you're used to it. In the battle I made a mistake and paid for it, I was knocked out and kidnapped by Orochimaru, I escaped, and took Sasuke with me. He had tried to defect so he could gain power and defeat his brother. Some trees and myself talked him out of it. I've been cleared but have been banned from missions for two months and am under constant surveillance. It could be worse; I could have to do D-ranks for the two months._

_Tell the others to piss the hell out of Lockhart, tell me what's happening about the chamber. As soon I can I'm going to go visit you to show the new tattoo I got out of it. _

_I hope everything's going find, say hi to Harry and Draco, by the way the charm for getting music to follow someone is in __A charms guide to annoying people with egos the size of planets,__ its at the back of the library. Enjoy._

_Max_

By the time she had written all the letters her hand was extremely sore. She gave it to Tsunade to hand over with any other post for the ninjas at Hogwarts. Apparently one of the other ANBU members had been sent on the mission. In a way she pitied who ever it was.

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Please review


	14. A howler, the airport and a new mission

Redone

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When Max had written to Laura she hadn't been sure what to expect, ten minutes after receiving it she wondered how she didn't guess.

She got a howler.

How Laura got one was beyond her but she had a feeling Draco and Harry had something to do with it. Luckily Max had recognised it and shushined into the nearest soundproof room, her own bed room. Now one dared ask why she had soundproofed her room but Laura suspected it was where she practised the panpipes.

"MAXINE HAKIE! HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT AFTER BECOMING A MISSING NIN YOU CAN COME BACK AND ACT AS IF NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! WHAT POSSESED YOU TO GO AFTER SNAKE FACE ANYWAY. DO YOU HAVE A BRAIN? YOU REALLY SHOULD USE IT BEFORE IT DIES FROM LACK OF USE; YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HE WOULD TRY SOMETHING. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SASUKE DEFECTED, AND THEN GOT PURSUADE TO COME BACK BY YOU AND SOME TREES? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" It paused, Max hoped it had finished but it continued thankfully in a normal voice.

"Oh and thanks for the books name, Lockhart keeps breaking out in a sweat if anyone starts humming. Draco and Harry say hi back and that they will give you your Christmas presents next time your in England. Shame about the ban though. The diary has been sorted out. The three of us may have accidentally stumbled upon it and Harry found the book and it accidently got in the way of one of Naruto's Rasengans then we may have accidently set it on fire," announced the letter before tearing itself up.

Max couldn't help but laugh. She was a bit sad that she had missed it and that she couldn't see Laura for at least two months. Max was now at loss of what to do, she normally would do missions but with the ban in place it wasn't going to happen. She headed to the memorial stone, she sat on one of the posts near by. Then she got out her panpipes and started to play, it was better than nothing and she hadn't had a chance to play in a while.

As she gazed around her eyes were drawn to a particular name on the stone. She smiled sadly and jumped down, she traced her fingers over the name Hakie, Yuri. Her death never really left Max alone, Max always had a pang of guilt that she should have done more, the genjutsu at the snakes lair really had hit hard opening up the old memories that were best left forgotten.

It was later that day she had the best idea. She knew that Sasuke and Laura weren't a couple, but she did know they needed a shove in the right direction. Her new self ordered mission, operation Matchmaker.

By the end of the first week Max had come up with all the plans she could and was now bored again, none of the plans would work if one of them was missing.

For the rest of the two months Max trained back up to par. Normally it would have taken no more that three weeks but Max spent a load of time but the memorial stone, normally talking to it. She knew some of the people on there, not just her sensei, some of the people she had worked with and half of them that she had worked with she had seen die.

Apparently since Dumbledore had no proof that what ever had been petrifying students was gone he had no choice but to keep the shinobi.

Once the two months were up Max and Sasuke were on their way back to Hogwarts. Luck would have it a massive storm had been brewing and they were forced to land in Dublin. While they were waiting in the queue later for a plane out a fat man in a suit barged to the front and started talking to the already harassed woman at the desk.

Max and Sasuke had been behind the person being served and felt sorry for the woman. Max adopted an innocent look making her look about ten not thirteen.

"Excuse me sir would you mind going to the back as people here have been waiting longer than you," said Max politely, behind her Sasuke was trying not to laugh. It was hard to believe this girl, who had so much blackmail and killed people could look sweet and childlike.

"How dare you, I need to get on the next flight and it better be first class!" shouted the man, enraged, turning back to the desk lady.

"Well if you bothered to wait then they could see what they can do about it, barging around gets you no where," said Max indignantly.

"Do you know who I am?" demanded the man glaring at her.

"No but the help desk is back by the security station if you are desperate to find out," replied Max coolly her voice carrying around the room since people had quietened down to see what the man was yelling about.

"What would you know you insolent little girl," yelled the rapidly turning red man.

"Ok, being called insolent is typical, but little is taking the cake. I'm a teenager, an insolent one yes, but small, that's like saying your skinny, it's a down right lie," said Max drawing herself up to her full height, the evil glint in her eyes, she subtly used Henge to make her look a tad more mature and taller. The man started to turn purple and stormed of to regain his dignity. Most of the queue burst into applause.

"I think you annoyed him Max," pointed out Sasuke.

"What can I say, it's a gift," Max smirked, discreetly undoing the secondary Henge, keeping the one that hid her wolf ears. They hadn't noticed an observant boy watching them.

They got their flight and went to wait when Max noticed they were being watched, to make matters worse she knew who was watching them. Artemis Fowl and his body guard. Great the smartest kid on this planet was here, they would have to be careful or he would find something wrong and become suspicious and that's the last thing they needed.

At last they got a plane to England where they would floo from the Leaky Cauldron. Max flooed first and noticed Laura barrelling towards her, smirking, Max sidestepped so Laura collided with Sasuke who had just come through ending up in a hug. They separated really rapidly when they figured out what happened.

"How could you hug him before your bestest buddy, I'm really hurt, that cut me deep, real deep," said Max mockingly. She saw the gleam in Laura's eyes, her life flash before her eyes. She turned tail and ran fearing for her life. She was pursued by both participants in the hug. She ran in the great hall and dived under the Gryffindor table hoping neither of them would think to look there.

She quickly used a Henge to look like a first year with brown hair she would slip up to sit at the table and hopefully they would overlook her. Just as she disappeared Laura and Sasuke appeared at the door. Max only just got up in time to avoid suspicion. She somehow had managed to sit next to Harry and Draco who were both at the Gryffindor table for once. Unluckily Laura headed over to them first.

"Have you two seen Max?" asked Laura sweetly, Max was looking like a scared first year but when Laura looked at her she knew she was busted.

"Max, old buddy, old pal," she said with her teeth gritted, Sasuke was next to her glaring daggers.

"I only moved so Sasuke wouldn't run into me I swear," she said frantically. She was ready for shushin at a moments notice.

"Then why did you run?"

"If you saw your life flash before your eyes and your death was by you and Sasuke you would run too," said Max. It was only then Ron, who had been sitting three seats down, realised that meant Max was back but he couldn't see her there was no silver hair in sight.

"Where is Max anyway, I heard that she ran of with a bunch of guys, she's probably a slut," he said pompously. Max dropped the little kid Henge and put her cap on before releasing the other one

"Tell me Ronald, what it is like living in a haze of perpetual stupidity?" she asked, her voice that same one used when threatening high ranking ninjas. There was a distinct smell of pee in the air and everyone shuffled away from him. "I thought you had grown out of the peeing yourself stage," Max sneered.

"Yeah well at least I'm not evil"

"I'm not evil!" This only made the ninjas start choking, "Just because I have a habit of killing people does not mean I'm evil." Everyone froze. "Ok maybe that wasn't the best thing to admit in front of everyone," she said sheepishly. "I was kidding, honestly, I'm thirteen," reassured Max, the people turned back to their food and continued eating.

"Great now the school thinks I'm a murderer," Max moaned as she took some food from Draco's plate only to have it snatched back. She turned on him and gave him the puppy dog eyes version three.

"Gah, have it," he said passing it back. Max grinned and ate it like it was the first thing she had eaten in weeks.

Two weeks before the end of term the four of them staged a battle with the basilisk, they hadn't wanted to kill it, for some reason Max thought it was cute and wanted to take it home as a pet.

Something had gone wrong in their plan and it had died. So not to waste the materials Max and Laura had skinned it and removed its fangs and contained the poison glands. The skin would make good amour and the fangs would make good weapons

The year eventually came to an end and Max, Harry, Laura and Draco were in their compartment talking. Harry still had the portkey in case he needed it and a promise that the two girls would defiantly see him next year. Max and Laura figured if Sirius escaped Dumbledore would want protection again.

Back at the village Max was glad to be allowed on missions again she had been getting bored. Team 7.5 new mission was to escort a noble boy to the rock village. Due to some arrangement, the kid they were escorting was getting married to one of the noble girls in rock to decrease the tension between leaf and rock. It may just be a boring escort mission but Max was just glad to be out of the village for a bit.

By the second hour into the trip Max would take being stuck in the village any day. The boy was rude and arrogant and kept flirting with her. Max was glad she had been ANBU, part of the training was keeping yourself from killing your client.

She could have sworn that her team mates were laughing at her misfortune, especially Naruto. There was no way Anko wouldn't find out about this and Laura would never let her hear the end of this. She would have to do some threatening to keep this under wraps.

Max had dropped behind the group hoping to lose the annoying git. The only reason he wasn't dead was the fact if he died there would be a load of crap and his family were in charge of the ninja program. Kakashi had kept back too because it was a better vantage point for him.

"What do I have to do to keep him from bugging me?" pleaded Max.

"What gives you the idea I would know, I'm not a girl" replied Kakashi flippantly.

"Do you want to be one?" growled Max, Kakashi froze mid-step and winced. Then he kept walking.

"I personally wouldn't know but Yuri had a mission like this once and she got through it. I can't remember how," said Kakashi with a smirk, Max could tell he was smirking, he had just gave her information with out giving her something to work with, of course he was smirking. As they crossed the boundary marking the Land of Fire Max felt something strange, something wasn't right. It was like that feeling someone was glaring at the back of your head. Looking around everything looked ordinary, Max moved into a defensive position by the client, it never hurt to be wary.

There was a flash of light Max immediately resorted to FA in time to see a group of people attack them heading for their client. Max sprung into action and knocked out two right off the bat using their surprise attack against them.

They weren't excepting someone to not be affected. Kakashi was holding his own; he was using his other senses, part of ANBU training was not having to rely on eyesight, he didn't have Max's benefit of pseudo-sight.

"Sasuke, Naruto use your senses and defend yourselves, two out of thirteen are down, eleven enemies remaining," Max called out. The fight continued Max would help by calling out help for them, she made a mental not to teach them the instructions in another language.

The attacking group noticed Max was the most able of the team and focused their attacks on her to direct her attention from helping her team mates and their client.

Apparently the light was a complex genjutsu so it wasn't affecting the offensive team but it was more than a genin could dispel, even if they could dispel it, it would take a while for their eyes to adjust.

"Five remaining," said Max as she cut two more throats with her scythe. Kakashi had taken some out and Sasuke and Naruto between them had taken down a couple.

Max saw three of the remaining ninjas head to their client and saw one aim a punch to knock him out she moved and blocked the punch only to have another person jump from a tree. Since she was back up against a tree with her client next to her they stood very little chance.

"Plus one," Max managed to call out before things went black for her. Her client soon followed, Kakashi saw but was trying to keep the others of his back. He finished up just as two ninjas took Max and their client away. The genjutsu had been lifted when the attackers had fled.

"Why did they take Max if they were after our client?" asked Sasuke.

"I don't know for certain but it could have been they need a hostage or want to find out her secrets, that's the only two reasons they would do that," said Kakashi gravely.

"We need to go after them," said Naruto determinedly, Kakashi nodded and summoned some of his tracked dogs and set them on the case. The trio followed them avidly, they shuddered to think what would happen if they lost either of the two missing people.

Laura scared them.

--

Please review


	15. Old acquaintances and Princess Deidara

Wow chapter 15 and i still havent gotten round to updating my other stories i havent updated any of my other stories since starting this part.

I am also trying to redo some of the chapters and re reading it i found the most commmon mistake, lack of full stops. my old english teacher most probably would die if he read the begining few chapter.

So naturally i plan on showing him it as soon as i can be bothered, so in a few years as i plan on staying away since my guts are pretty much hated, if I tried to show him it he would probably suspect somethings up and give it an F without even looking at it.

I'm glad I never have to do english anymore. I'm also sure my class is too.

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Max woke up with a spitting headache and groaned. Across the clearing she saw her client trussed up and still unconscious testing her bonds told her she would need to apperate out if she was going to get out of them. Last time she did that she ended up in a worse situation. She saw three different people lying around the fire in the centre of the clearing.

All of their headbands had lines across marking them missing nins. Max sighed to herself, how did she get herself into these messes. The sigh brought the ninjas to the awareness that she was awake. One of them saw her and smirked before fishing out a book from his jacket.

"Maxine Hakie, Ex-missing nin of the leaf. Aliases include 'Max', 'Angel of dusk', 'Ookami', 'The Blackmailer' and 'That Brat'. Ex-ANBU of the leaf and current chunin, wanted in the rice country for genocide of the Kumar clan, also reputed to have or be able to get black mail on anyone. You have quite the record"

"Yes and if you had read even further then you would find out I managed to escape from Orochimaru which everyone thought was impossible so this will be no problem and then I shall kick your arse" said Max brightly.

"You look pretty harmless, they probably exaggerated your reports to make you seem dangerous" sneered the reader's companion.

"Why don't you untie me and find out, I did kick most of your little groups arse after all" replied Max, if she had felt like it she would have already escaped but she wanted to know why they were after her client.

"We underestimated you it wont happen again" Max rolled her eyes, the amount of times she had heard that was stupid.

"So why did you capture me, you could have just killed me" asked Max.

"You're wanted in rice country. Alive. There's a decent bounty on your head" explained one of the guys.

"Oh, I'm guessing there is a similar reason why you kidnapped captain jerkface over there" said Max pointing over to her client. They two ninjas nodded.

"Ok, I'm going to escape now, thanks for the company" smiled Max as she burnt through the ropes. Truth was she felt some unfamiliar chakra signatures heading towards them and wanted to be gone by the time they arrived. Max sent a flaming fist through one of the ninjas chest and kicked the other one with her electric boots.

The third one had only just started to react when he was kicked into a tree. She grabbed her scythe from where it was propped up against a tree and walked over to her client and cut through the ropes and lifted him over her shoulder, with a quick glance around she departed from the clearing.

A minute later a squad of rock ninjas landed in the clearing. The leader looked around and the other kept an eye out for trouble.

"The camp is still in reasonable condition, someone took them by surprise, knocked these two guys out, it looks like someone punched him with a fist full of flames and the other is scorched so probably hit by a lightning just followed by a kick or vice versa" announced one of the lesser members.

The leader thought back, he didn't know any Justus like that, most of them were blowing balls of fire at someone or making fire dragons. Then he remembered something further back. A girl holding fire in her hands. He dismissed the thought as his imagination.

The squad was joined by what remained of team 7.5. Both groups stood ready to fight, neither made a move until Sasuke noticed on a tree something was glimmering, he walked over and unsnagged a hair. A silver hair.

"Max has been here" he declared. This triggered another memory with the rock team leader. Back to his chunin exams he remembered the finals and arguing with a small girl. Again he dismissed the thought he couldn't afford to let his mind wander.

"Have you seen two kids, a girl and a boy around here" asked Kakashi

"No, I felt something move away but it was weak enough it slipped under my senses I assumed it was a civilian" said the jounin leader. Kakashi rolled his eyes; Max could easily have suppressed her chakra signature.

"Which way" one of the other ninjas pointed in a direction

"Who are you looking for anyway?" asked one of the rock ninjas

One of my team and our client, we were ambushed and they got taken"

"It wouldn't happen to be the noble boy supposed to be going to rock would it"

"What business of yours is it?" sneered Sasuke. Both Naruto and Kakashi were seriously thinking of limiting his time around Max and Laura, his attitude was almost like them and two of them were enough they didn't need another one.

"We were told to escort you and your team and client to the village" said the leader holding out his mission statement. Both the teams headed in the direction that had been pointed.

Meanwhile Max was on her way to the rock village. She might as well get the job done if her team mates didn't find her, she hoped they would realise this. Her client had woken up and been dropped because he decided to try to grope her ass. She had been walking to let her team mates catch up so it hadn't been anything dangerous.

Back in the leaf village Laura was laughing her head off, she had 'borrowed' the Hokage's scrying ball and had been watching the whole thing. The door burst open and Tsunade walked in, her eyebrows rose when she saw Laura but shrugged it of and asked for details. It was not long later Louise walked in and without a word sat down to watch as well.

In the meantime team 7.5 and the rock team, which was just the basic genin cell, were heading back to the village in the hope that Max would be heading there too. It wasn't long before they could feel a small chakra signal and headed towards it. Max had seen them coming and recognised the chakra so stopped so they would catch up. When they were reunited Max caught sight of the rock jounin and did a double take.

"Itsuki?" she asked carefully, he had defiantly grown but looked basically the same as at the chunin exams the first time round.

"How do you know my name" once again Max only just remembered her Henge.

"How could you not remember the person who beat you in the chunin exams, I suppose you wouldn't seeing as I had a Henge on" said Max, she made the seal for Henge to show she wasn't going to attack them and changed into her old persona for when she was first genin, she had altered it so it looked her age.

She dropped it again as it took chakra up and she was lazy. Itsuki gaped. The large group began its walk to the rock village, Max and Itsuki were at the back catching up on what had happened since the exams.

"It's you, now I remember, what happened to your team mates, and how come you're on a genin team" Itsuki said, he was amazed that Max was so young. She must have been something like four at the chunin exams, he thought to himself.

"I got demoted; I became chunin again at the exam last time it was at the leaf village, Itachi, he's a missing nin, Hana, she's a veterinary nin and we still talk sometimes. what about you, I see you became jounin and you have a team"

"I became a jounin two years after the exams this is my second team, did you ever get higher than jounin? If they didn't then I would have expected half Konoha to be missing"

"Yup, all the way into ANBU before I hit ten, I never took on a team as a jounin; my age was a bit of the problem. The Henge I used was so it wouldn't invoke more rocky relations and people training children even younger than me. I did it voluntarily. I got demoted a bit after Itachi became a missing nin, had to start all over again but I wouldn't want families to force their children through what I have been through at such a young age." Itsuki nodded in agreement

"The academy couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I still miss being ANBU sometimes, but they were suspecting my mentality would make me a liability so after my team mate's defection they kicked me of the team or at least what was left of the team"

"I know the feeling, my brother is a missing nin, I have to work hard to persuade them I'm not going to end up like him, I swear they were really close to doing the same to me"

"Who's your brother?" inquired Max, she looked closer to see if she could see any resemblance to any missing nin she had had a run in with nothing rang a bell but she swore she could see something she just couldn't place it.

"Deidara of the rock" Max could have kicked herself, that who it was that Itsuki reminded her of.

"Him? I suppose I can see the resemblance, I had a few run-ins with him, he uses clay doesn't he"

"Yup, that's him, as a kid he would always play with clay making models then making them explode. The mouths on his hands were a supposed defect at birth but he found a way to used them. I can tell you some funny stories, once when he was ten he stressed out about his hair, you've noticed it's really long right" Max nodded.

"He hates getting it muddy or dirty, he also had a phase were he used to dress up as a girl, he had a fan club within the first hour. He demanded everyone address him Princess Deidara" Max broke down laughing.

"That is so funny, I wish I could have seen that" she choked out, Itsuki was also giggling even though he was supposedly too manly to giggle. Max was thinking about the abuse she could give Deidara about when he was younger. They eventually reached the village.

They were invited to hang around for a few days to recover from the journey. Kakashi marvelled at Max's ability to befriend pretty much anyone, even someone who had been her rival before. The amount of 'strays' she had befriended was the running joke in the jounin lounge.

Eventually they headed back to the leaf village to report. Max put in a request never to be put on an escort mission with teenage boys.

They managed that trip without incident. When they got back Max was sent of on a solo mission. Assassination. Max hadn't had one of those in ages and truth was she missed them, psyching out her enemies was fun.

It reminded everyone that Max wasn't just a fun loving, blackmailing little prankster, she was a shinobi first and a first rate assassin. She donned her ANBU armour and mask, for once added the cloak, her scythe was attached to her back. Her target would find out first hand why she had the name Angel of Death.

Her target was a business man who was trying to take over land of waves much like Gatou had. It was times like this she didn't mind not having a team. The thrill of the hunt belonged to her alone on solo missions. She arrived by the bridge just before sunset and grinned, this was the best time. She shushined to right outside her targets house and created a clone of a beggar girl.

She got the clone to knock at the door while she hid her presence. As the door opened Max made her was in through a window. She found herself in a plain room, she activated FA and began to search for her target. She found him three levels below ground. How predictable. She made her way down, quickly and quietly.

As she reached the second level her clones knowledge came rushing into her mind, she instinctively reviewed it. Her eyes went wide, it was a set up. They had known about her mission and had taken measures against it.

This would not end well. For them at least. Using FA Max tracked the movements of the counter attack force and frowned, then her eyes widened. The chakra she could feel was overwhelming, there must be at least fifty ninjas of at least jounin level.

She departed from her hidey hole down to the final level. She silently entered the room looking like the grim reaper, her scythe in one hand and an hourglass in on her belt. She would finish her mission then deal with the others. Her target was sat at a desk, he looked up to see, the black cloaked figure and smirked.

"You won't leave this building alive" he sneered.

"As long as I complete my mission you will never find out if I will or not" was Max's reply

"You're just a girl" scoffed the man.

"I am the angel of dusk, for the crimes you have committed I will kill you" said Max coldly, with a flick of her wrist. Her scythe severed the man's head from his body. She turned back to the door, only for it to burst open with many shinobi spilling in. Some panicked at the sight but others drew their weapons.

Max's hood had been blown back a bit to show most of her face, but still hid the defining features in shadows. The grin on her face and the spark in her eyes sent shivers down each and every ninja's spine. Over the last ten years Max eyes had been getting lighter until they were now a pale grey giving her eyes an ethereal look.

"So, you are the people supposed to stop me from escaping, and killing the dead guy. Well, you failed part two and you will fail part one because you all suck, though the person who tells me who informed you of my presence gets to live" said Max sending a wave of killer intent at the assembled ninjas in front of her. A drop of blood fell from the neck of the killed man and everyone burst into action.

Max swung her scythe in an powerful large arc creating many gashes on the first wave of enemys. With this many people in such a concentrated area she would have to be incredibly untalented to miss even just one of them.

Some where in Konoha a pink haired girl sneezed.

Although it wasn't the most precise ninja art, the hack and slack way was pretty effective in getting rid of the ones not even worth her time. Jounin they may be but without space to fight they were doomed.

Half an hour later Max walked out the front door. She had encountered other opposition on other floors on the way up but they hadn't lasted long. She made a detour to the safe and planned to take out the money and give some of it back to the towns folk. Getting into the safe was easy, the wolf ears weren't just for decoration. Her mask was still on but covered in blood her hood was down so it wouldn't obstruct her hearing.

Alas she was so focused on opening the safe she didn't notice someone behind her, she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt someone tap her shoulder. Se turned slowly, the light bulb was flickering, casting an eerie glow like something from a horror movie. Her eyes began to twitch when she saw who was behind her.

"Ok which one of you bright sparks unscrewed the light bulb just enough to get it flickering in a crappy attempt to freak me out" growled Max, snarling at them. She was still dripping with blood and her scythe looked like she had dipped it in a pool of blood. The two figures paled under her fierce gaze.

--

who are the two people who dared sneak up on max. reveiw and you might just find out next time. you'll propbably be able to guess first though, but you'll have to wait to be sure


	16. Plots, plans and Homunculi

its my birth day tomorrow (4th Aug) and i shall be 16

to answer a few question which i kind of forgot about, sorry but i kept forgeting

Laura Fin is no longer being written because she has a more active role in the story and i cant write crime fics, some of what she does will get mentioned at points

How the basilisk dies will be written in a flashback at some point when i can fit it into the story.

The evil FMA charachters will apear, i kind of forgot about them too but they will apear a few times

Artemis will apear again at some point and Holly will make an appearence

i'm glad my readers like my story though, it makes me feel very warm and fuzzy inside

--

"It was Itachi" blamed the blond slightly taller figure.

"Was not, it was Deidara" countered Itachi. Max's eyes widened and she almost pinched herself, these two were acting childish. The world was going to end for sure.

"Who are you and what have you done with 'Tachi-chan and Princess Dei'-chan?" she demanded, both froze and glared at her. She was glad that she had her mask on otherwise the two might have glared more or run away from her for the look of mischief on her face.

"So you met my brother" grunted Deidara.

"Yup, I didn't even need to ask for black mail, he just told me stories about you and your girly phase, he was nice to talk to despite the fact we were opponents in the chunin exams" said Max honestly, she could see Itachi was holding back his laughter even in the bad light.

"It's a shame he didn't have photos for me to add to my collection of black mail, then I would have had black mail of both of you in dresses" continued Max. She was also glad they knew better than to attack her when she's covered in blood.

"So what brings you here?" asked Max light heartedly. The two guys exchanged looks, once again Max had switched moods. It had to be a disorder of some sort.

"We were supposed to check things out around here, make sure the new top dog around her wasn't a threat to out group"

"Well, if he was, he isn't anymore" smirked Max running her fingers lightly over the flat side of the scythes blade getting more blood on her fingertips.

"We guessed. We saw the bodies" said Deidara. Max was beginning to feel light headed, dimly she notice Itachi's hand was counting down something as he put each finger down. As he got to the last one her vision went black.

Itachi darted to catch her before she hit her head on the floor. Deidara raised an eyebrow at his actions.

"If she gets brain damaged imagine what she might do" reasoned Itachi.

"That's your excuse" said Deidara rolling his eyes. He had started to notice some strange behavior between the two, something he was willing to bet they were both oblivious to. Oh the teasing her would get out of it even if he was just imagining it.

Max groaned as she woke up. What was it with waking up in clearings? She though back to the latest memories from up until she lost conscious. She concluded she had used up to much energy and consequently fallen unconscious. She was probably brought her by Itachi or Deidara, but where were they.

"Hey Max" chirped a voice to her left, Max having been on edge launched some kunai at the voice. She turned to see who she hit and saw Deidara pined to a tree.

"I knew we should have taken your weapons while we had the chance" he groaned as he pulled out the blades that had him stuck to a tree.

"Then I would have thrown sharp sticks at you and would not have missed" said Max as she stretched, her back clicking with quiet clicks. Deidara had just finished removing the last kunai when she said that causing him to freeze up for a second with was enough time for gravity to drag him down. He fell in a particularly prickly bush.

"You did that on purpose" he accused dusting himself down.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't" said Max flippantly she did a quick inventory and found her mask was missing.

"Where is my mask?" she asked, her voice dangerously low. No one sane took her mask, Orochimaru might have but he was already on her death list. For a brief second Max wondered if this universe had a death note.

"Itachi took it to make sure you wouldn't go before he could talk to you" rushed out Deidara.

"And where is Itachi?" asked Max in the same dangerous voice.

"I don't know?" squeaked Deidara

"Did he say when he would be back" asked max, less forcefully this time

"Why? Are you anticipating his return?" taunted Deidara.

"No, I want my mask back" said Max the dangerous voice returning. If this continued then Deidara may be missing a few limbs by the time Itachi got back. She supposed it was getting her back for calling him Princess Dei-chan. Well if he wanted a war then why not.

"Are you sure it isn't an excuse to see Itachi again" simpered the blond

"Look _Princess Deidara_ I want that mask back and if you do not stop talking you will lose your limbs" Max growled. Deidara glared at her and she glared back. Neither of them noticed Itachi had returned and was watching them.

Not to mention he had heard the conversation. He had been fishing since he was hungry and assumed the other would be two.

As he created the fire and began to cook the fish he watched the two. They were both still oblivious to his presence still glaring at each other. When the fish finished cooking Itachi took one of them over and sat near them.

The two glarers were sitting near enough that if one of them held out an arm they would touch the other. Itachi went to take a bite of his fish, only to find it missing.

It was only then he noticed Max was eating a fish. His fish. The fish that he had been about to eat. Both max and Deidara turned to him when they felt him giving of a large amount of killer intent.

"Hi Itachi" said Max innocently as if she hadn't just stolen his fish. She looked toward where he was looking at and saw the fish in her hand then gave a sheepish smile.

"Uh…" Max offered the stick back to Itachi who was still staring at it.

"I think he's dead" offered Deidara

"Oops, my bad, I probably should go now" said Max shoving the fish into Deidara's hand and taking her mask that had been left by the fire she vanished into the tree line. Deidara took a few seconds to understand what had just happened and in that time Itachi broke out of his daze and began looking murderously at Deidara who was holding his fish.

Deidara only then realised Max had planed this and ran for his life as Itachi had been reaching for his weapons pouch.

Max headed back to the leaf village chuckling along the way, with her mask and the fact she was still covered in dry blood and her mask was splattered in blood to. It was defiantly creeping people out. She had many looks shot at her by passersby but she ignored them. Deidara should have learnt by now, don't mess with Max.

Back at the village Dumbledore was once again in the Hokage's office discussing the next school year.

"It's important that any ninjas behave on this mission, a killer is on the loose and my students will probably be in danger if Maxine insists on doing as she has been" implored Dumbledore. Tsunade hid a snigger about the use of Max's full name and the fact if he hired the ninjas again there would be killers in the school anyway.

"I will speak to her about it, but if she causes you this much trouble then why don't you exclude her from the mission" Tsunade had been briefed on his manipulative nature and the use of mind reading he possessed, she had read Max's take on protecting her mind or at least being able to tell when someone is.

"Despite her unorthodox methods she does get the job done well" covered Dumbledore; he needed to get Max under his influence so he would have a powerful ally when it came to later. Just then Max as Ookami jumped through the window, still in her blood stained uniform successfully creeping the headmaster out.

"Why do I have a feeling of déjà vu?" asked Max looking between the two leaders. Both of the leaders chuckled.

"Wait, are you talking about Max again because I can tell you this if you try pulling what you tried last time them she will not be held accountable for the subsequent death" said Max, it always felt strange talking in the third person about herself. She turned to Tsunade.

"Will I be assigned this mission?"

"Yes, you know the layout the best so it would be better if you were there, I will also assign Ryuu the case if his mission has finished, you leave tomorrow to see if Ed will be attending too." Answered Tsunade effectively dismissing Max. She noticed the headmaster looking relived but a bit confused.

"What's wrong?"

"That child was covered in blood, shouldn't she go to hospital" asked the perplexed headmaster

"It wasn't hers" shrugged Tsunade.

"How can you be sure?"

"She's too good at what she does to get hurt"

"Wouldn't she need counselling for seeing those people die and getting covered in blood?"

"I don't think you quite understand headmaster, she killed them, that's what her mission was, it's what her job is"

"But she's so young and already she has the blood of someone on her hands" insisted the headmaster.

"It's her choice; if she didn't want to kill she would never have become a ninja"

"Out of interest how old is she"

"That's classified, I can't just give out information on my operatives" by now Tsunade was getting tired of this interrogation.

"If you'll forgive me I have things that need doing" she excused. Dumbledore nodded and apperated out. As soon as he was gone Max jumped back in her mask removed and in clean clothes.

"What is you opinion on what he's doing?" asked Tsunade.

"It appears he's digging for information, he seemed interested in my alter ego probably because of how young she looked. He may try to recruit some of us as he thinks we are still young and 'mouldable' as its obvious he was unnerved by the power a child had but I bet he was thinking how to do that and keep the loyalty. I also know for a fact the supposed killer was framed" summarised Max.

"Also do you think on your mission you can find a way to stop him appearing out of nowhere? It's unnerving the guards" Max grinned, time to put some of that money to use, she would ask the goblins to ward the tower at least.

Laura however was still looking through the book Max had recommended and stumbled on a charm that reminded her of an incident at her alternate universe school. She was sure Max remembered it too; it was their class's finest moment. Now she just needed to figure out which class to use it in.

Naruto was currently working on his next prank; it included water and flour bombs and the Hyuuga clan. Old but classic.

Anko was wondering if she could get assigned on the Hogwarts mission, when ever the others came back it looked like they had a blast.

Sasuke was trying to train but his thoughts kept wandering to a certain blond friend of Max's. It then went into a full blown thinking session about what his goal in life was now. Especially seeing as the second part was reviving his clan.

He supposed the first part should change to 'find and kill the person responsible for his clans murder' but the second, he didn't know who he would revive it with, defiantly not Sakura; no Uchiha would ever have pink hair. Period.

He also supposed blonde Uchiha's wouldn't be too bad as long as it wasn't blindingly bright. He would have thought further but Laura turned up on a break from reading and hit him round the back of the head and told him not to think so hard. They then started talking about random things.

Max was sat in a tree watching the two relaxing while suppressing her chakra so not to be detected. She had told Laura to take a break and suggested the place for some strange reason coughmatchmakercough. She thought she might as well watch and make sure things don't go pair shaped and if she got black mail then fair enough. She buried her giggles as Sasuke shifted closer to Laura. They looked so cute.

Later that day, Naruto came back covered in flour, the other dwellers of the house couldn't help but laugh. Naruto glared at them and headed to his room. Max followed to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"What part went wrong" she asked gently.

"Why would you care?" snapped Naruto.

"You're talking to the person who used to prank her first teacher all the time and most of them back fired"

"I don't know what went wrong; I planed it out so well"

"If everyone stopped at a failure then we would have gotten nowhere. Remember the lesson is in the struggle not the victory, go over you plan again to see what went wrong. And make sure you hide your plans so they wont find them if you know some one had seen it then be spontaneous" Max advised.

She remembered when one of her own plans had gone wrong because she had her plan written in a scroll in a pocket. During training it had fallen out and Yuri had read it then taken counter-measures. Naruto smiled and pulled a scroll from under his pillow, max rolled her eyes.

"Could you have put it in a more obvious place" she asked sarcastically

"Where would you suggest"

"Maybe you school trunk" Naruto thought for a second then dived under his bed and began dragging the thing out.

"I'm gonna go now" Max said as stuff began to fly though the air.

The next day she set out to find Ed, she was almost flying through the trees at a super fast rate. She reached the east HQ in one and a half days. She went fast to make up for the pace that she would return at, due to the people who would be with her not being able to go really fast.

She noticed Ed pretty quickly, who else hangs around with a giant suit of amour. She decided to follow him for a bit and see where about in his story line he was. Then she remembered that she couldn't remember half the stuff that went on in the story so it wouldn't matter. She caught up with them not long later.

"Hey Ed, hey Al" she greeted scaring both of them.

"Do you have to appear like that?" scowled the shorter brother.

"No but I need to amuse myself somehow" grinned Max.

"Why are you here?"

"Begins with a D and ends with git" said Max causing the two brothers to snigger

"Dumbledore want me back" asked Ed

"He wants as many people under his thumb so yep"

"I can't I have things to do, we got a new lead on the stone"

"It's fine, when you can though come and visit" said Max

"Are you staying for a while or heading back now" asked Al

"I probably should head back now, it's a long journey"

"At least stay for lunch, as you said it's a long journey you need your energy" asked Al

"If you insist" Max may be able to resist puppy dog eyes and pouting but Al sounded so cute and innocent.

During lunch they discussed things like their theories on Dumbledore and why he's so manipulative.

After lunch Max heard a ruckus on the outside of the town. The others couldn't since they didn't have enhanced hearing. She headed out to see what the fuss was about. What she saw made her hit herself, she had been to Amestris several times and not seen any of the homunculi.

She should have known it would have to happen sometime.

She could see Lust arguing with Gluttony, probably about food. She sensed Ed and Al behind her. Unfortunately they were noticed and therefore Max got noticed too.

"Ah the Fullmetal brat and his tin brother, they seem to have a friend"

"Can I eat her?"

"I don't see why not" Max narrowed her eyes and saw Gluttony rush at her. Just before he got to her she leapt up into the air high above the trees. The then faded from sight as she shushined behind Lust.

"I'm not food I would call him a cannibal but he isn't exactly human is he" said Max, this time Lust narrowed her eyes.

"How do you know so much?" asked Lust slightly alarmed

"I only said one thing, that's not much that's little" mocked Max. Lust turned to face Max and shot out her sharp fingers at her. Max jumped out of the way dodging them.

"If you want to hit me, you'll have to try harder than that" taunted Max.

"Why don't you fight back?"

"Because I have the advantage, fighting you would mean showing my moves giving you a chance to figure out how to counter them. I know your moves so I can counter any of your attacks and figure out how to beat you" explained Max, avoiding the attacks by both homunculi. She decided to end it now or she would end up making mistakes, she hadn't slept since she had left on the mission. She quickly made the seals for one of her genjutsus and made eye contact with Lust very briefly to activate it. Lust began to act strange, giggling and acting bashful and shy. Gluttony turned to Max.

"What did you do to Lust?"

"She'll be fine, she's probably enjoying it" said Max dismissively avoiding the actually question, she then quickly did the hand signs for the forced sleep jutsu and Gluttony crumpled, asleep.

"What did you do to her" asked Ed interestedly

"Genjutsu, now I really have to go now" she said as she began limbering up ready for the return journey. Max quickly hugged both of them, surprising them and disappeared into the tree line.

When she got to the desert that separated the two different anime places she took out her wand and began to attempt the patronus charm. She had to search her memories for a long time to find one that was truly happy and even then it wasn't great, most of them were just funny. Because of this problem she could only produce a mist.

She got back and reported to the Hokage before heading home to sleep for a few days. That was he plan anyway. It didn't help that team 7.5 had training the next morning. So when Max turned up five minutes before Kakashi she still was sleep deprived.

Since her supply of blood pops were finished and Laura had drunk the last of the coffee and hidden her caffeinated drinks she was very grumpy. Why she had hidden the drinks was beyond Max but she suspected it had something to do with her matchmaking attempt before she left.

Luckily the training was easy; Naruto and Sasuke were learning another jutsu and Max was working on chakra control in the form of powering her MP3player. In one week they would head back to earth and another week after that would be September first. Max had no idea what Laura was currently planning, but she knew the FIN was up to something.

--

review or Laura will steal your caffiene/chocolate/sugary item too. if you do review i shall update soon


	17. Waves, Airports, Dogs that eat tacos

this may have some typos as it was not completly written on my computer which knows all the spellings i use

i plan to update when i dont have to share a computer and the keyboard isnt wireless so losses some of the letters

--

In the week that followed Max planned to sleep but once again in never happened, she was given another mission, to deliver a package to the land of waves.

She was not pleased. So the trio of missing nins who attacked her found out, the hard was of course, she idly wondered if there was enough of them to collect the bounty. She really couldn't wait to get back, then she could go to earth and resupply her blood pops.

As she approached the large bridge she slowed to show she meant no harm, it was a common curtsey and help identify if something was an emergency, so if someone was in trouble it would raise alarms and if they were attacking then they would raise alarms. She saw Inari sitting half way along the bridge dangling his feet over the edge. She snuck up behind him, and was about to shove him in when he turned around.

"Damn" max cursed, she was careful to be quiet since angry parents were vicious.

"Hey Max where's the rest of your team"

"Back home, this is a solo mission, how did you know I was there"

"Your reflection in the water and your shadow" he said, max looked around and noticed her shadow was indeed obvious from where he was sitting and it was viable that he had seen her in the water.

"What are you doing out here? It's getting kind of late"

"Did you know it's been three years since you last came here to this day?" he asked, Max tilted her head in thought, had it really been so long.

"oh yeah, time flies when you getting chased around by people who want to kill you, how about we head to your house after I deliver the package and I can tell you some of the stories before I leave"

"You leaving so soon, you only just got here"

"I have a mission in a few days I need to be back for it"

"Couldn't you just stay for one night, please?"

"Well I never got given a time limit so a day wouldn't hurt I suppose" inari smiled and taking her arm he dragged her to his house. Max thought back to the wave mission, she hadn't really been around for much mainly training, avoiding the conflicts and arguments within the house, she might have been a bit guilty of showing Inari how to properly throw knives and may have accidentally left a scroll on furthering the technique.

She broke from her train of thought when they arrived at the house, much of the village had been improved thanks to the bridge so it wasn't a surprise that Inari's house was looking much better. They made a quick detour so max could finish her mission. The second she stepped in she was enveloped in a hug from Inari's mother.

"Max, how are you? You haven't been here for a while? How are things at home? How are the rest of your team?" interrogated the woman who held her in a bear hug.

"I'm fine, I have had too many missions so I haven't had time to go places, homes good, still standing even after some attacks, the rest of my team are doing well, Naruto's progressing really quickly and Sasuke is becoming less of an angsty gi… team mate. Kakashi's still alive and reading his beloved book" answered Max in order of question, it was habit she had picked up.

"no wonder you look exhausted you've been over worked look at the bag under your eyes, no boy want someone with bags under their eyes" this caused max to choke a bit, her eyes wide in surprise.

"I don't have bags under my eyes, besides I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment, I'm only thirteen, fourteen soon but still" max protested, trying to escape the hug. She subtly applied a light henge around her eyes to make any possible bags fade from view.

"so what brings you here then" asked Tazuna, who walked in wiping his hands on a cloth.

"I had to deliver something, it wasn't enough to warrant the entire team though"

"I'm sure I can get something delivered personally by the team" said Tazuna with a grin.

"It will have to wait for a while, we're going on a long term mission within the week" Tazuna nodded in understanding. Max spent most of the night telling most of her exiting exploits to the family, though she tried to skirt around her temporary missing nin status she found they had found out, they understood under the circumstances it was the best thing. Max had been shooed to bed forcefully and told she wasn't to leave until she had had a good nights sleep.

As usual Max was sad to leave again, she had grown attached to the family, and promised to visit soon hopefully with the team.

The ninjas were sat on the aeroplane to England. There would be a short stop in Ireland due to some problems, Max was just hoping that a certain genius kid wouldn't be there. She may be able to be inconspicuous but the rest of her team was a different matter. Itachi hadn't been able to join them on the mission but for the shear fun of it Max decided to have a permanent clone of him. She would remake the clone every hour so she would constantly know what was going on.

In Ireland Max was wondering if anyone though the group was sane. Someone had given Naruto caffeine, for some reason Hinata was reading icha icha, Shikamaru was just looking bored and starring at the ceiling waiting for their flight. Sakura was fawning over Sasuke who was staring at Laura who was plotting.

Ino was… Max panicked and looked around to see Ino flirting with some guy. She sighed with relief, Kiba was talking to Akamaru who was hidden in his jacket she was glad the team had reduced in size or she may have gone insane. Max felt a presence behind her and quickly turned around only to see the people she had been hoping not to.

"Do you know those people?" asked the boy genius; behind him Max could see Butler was looking around.

"Unfortunately" groaned Max, burying her head in her hands.

"Weren't you here a few months ago?"

"What are you, a stalker?"

"No I was simply asking a question"

"So was I, so we're even" at this point Naruto decided to jump on Max who was unprepared and toppled of the bench onto the floor with Naruto sitting on her stomach. She saw Artemis stand up and leave and really didn't blame him, she got the feeling she would see him again.

"Naruto, if you do not get off my stomach I will castrate you with a blunt spoon" she growled. Naruto whimpered and hastily jumped off and ran at Laura to hide. This annoyed Sasuke as he was now blocking his view of Laura who was still oblivious to the fact she was being watched. Max knew she was being paranoid as she continued to watch around. Paranoia had saved her butt too many times. They finally got their flight and were headed for Heathrow. Max would have swapped seats with someone but she figured if she left them on their own they would probably cause the aeroplane to crash.

The got to Diagon alley soon enough and went to Gringotts for money. Max also inquired about getting wards done she got the whole thing sorted soon enough, it seemed the politer you were the easier everything was. The workers would be under an unbreakable oath not to reveal were they were going to be working.

They meet up with Harry at the leaky caldron, some how Dumbledore had gotten him to his relative's house while Aunt Marge was there so the whole blowing up incident had happened. Max had wanted to get there before it so she could talk to Sirius but she would just have to wait until a Hogsmede weekend.

All of the ninjas would be allowed into Hogsmede, even if they hadn't been allowed they would go anyway, Max could remember the secret passage ways the only reason she hadn't gone was she had forgotten and not bothered about it.

Currently the group were sitting at the bar in the leaky cauldron just generally talking and listening for information. They were of course expert information gatherers, especially around people who had no idea of what they could do. Max saw Ron with his family walk in and kept a careful eye on them, it wasn't that she didn't trust them, but she didn't like Ron and he might try something if he saw her.

She felt Ino sit next to her after coming back from flirting with one of the older Hogwarts students. Laura sat on the other side. Max felt cornered.

"Max, can I ask you a question?" asked Laura

"When have I ever said no?"

"I need advice, I like a boy but I don't know if he likes me." She confessed.

"Who would this guy be?"

"It's not important, I just want to know"

"And you're asking me, you know what any of my relationships would end like"

"That's just cos that guy was a jerk, you still had all the answers"

"I can't guarantee being right anyway wouldn't it be better to ask Ino"

"Stop avoiding around the question"

"I don't know, see if he likes spending time with you, if he's sitting next to you does he edge closer, does he tend to space out while looking at you or pay more attention to you than every one else, does he actively seek you company, has he protected you despite you being capable to handle it yourself" Max suggested, she was just saying stuff of the top of her head, it might be complete bull for all she knew. She got up before she could be asked more questions and headed out to the alley ignoring the adults that kept advising her not to because of Black.

She meandered down the cobbled street completely oblivious to her surroundings, she hated talking about relationships, matchmaking she could handle but advise… it wasn't her forte. She snapped out of her revere when she noticed where she had ended up. The bookstore. She browsed the shelves when something triggered her senses. The smell of dog mingled quite strongly with man.

She quickly put the book she had been looking through back on the shelf and headed out the door. She followed her senses round to a back alley and saw a dog rummaging through a bin, a dog that looked strangely like a grim. She decided to act like she didn't know who it was and slowly walked up to it.

"Aw whose a cute dog" Max cooed, this caught the dogs attention and it turned startled. Since it was normal for max to suppress anything like smell and noise the dog hadn't been able to tell she was there. Max held out a hand as a gesture of no harmful intent and allowed the dog to sniff it. From her bag she pulled out a taco and offered it to the dog who wolfed it down. She rubbed the top of its head making the already messy fur even more tangled. She carefully teased out the worst of the tangles and handed him another taco for staying still. Absent-mindedly she wondered why she had tacos in her bag, but dismissed the thought when the dog shook itself splattering her in dirt. She got a gleam in her eye.

"So, you're dirty huh, and you felt the need to share it, well you need a bath and I will give you one" she cackled and lunged at the dog before it could escape. When the ninjas saw her bring a dog in hog tied they barley gave her a second glance and turned back to what they were doing.

Half an hour later max returned down with a clean but wet dog and returned to wandering the alley with it following her. While she had been washing it she had been talking to it and at the mention that she was going to Hogwarts it had decided to stick with her and go too.

Some how they ended up in another back alley. Max turned to the dog again.

"So Sirius how's life on the run?" she saw the dogs eyes widen and he got ready to run.

"Calm down, I know your innocent, you were framed, nod if you understand but don't transform" the dog nodded.

"I bet your wondering how I know, huh" she asked, once again the dog nodded.

"I have my ways but they are secret. I assure you, your secret's safe" she smiled. She told him her plan to get the rat and they agreed it would be too risky for him to go to Hogwarts with her as the twins had the map. They would meet up the first Hogsmede weekend at the cave. They split and Max went back to wandering around.

The first of September found them on the train, Max knew that Laura knew the basics of the charm and the other had been briefed but they weren't sure on how it would go. As usual Max and Laura were sitting with Harry and Draco, Lupin was asleep and the four had no intention of waking him. They were mainly discussing Sirius' escape, Draco knew quite a bit because of his fathers status in the ministry and max knew he hadn't had a trial. They were going over various theories when Hermione came in; Max could have sworn she had 'intelligent discussion' senses.

It all went a bit down hill after Ron tried to get in. Max had moodily told him to get lost and he had commented saying not to listen to her 'she must be pmsing' was his excuse. The other had promptly kicked him out while Laura prevented Max from committing murder on the train. They were about half an hour from the station when the train stopped. Max and Laura exchanged a look, it was show time.

"We're probably being searched by the dementors so think happy thoughts, getting a good grade, annoying Weasley, catching the snitch etc keep that thought in your mind and focus on it" commanded Max as she drew her wand, her action mirrored by Laura. They both began focusing on their happy memory. Laura's was watching the sunset with Sasuke that day Max had subtly directed her to where he was. Max's was getting put on her team with Itachi and Hana.

The door slide open and the air turn icy, they could see puffs of air when they breathed. Max could feel her bad memories surfacing and reacted. She let her good memory encase her as she spoke the incantation. In the corner of her eye she could see Laura doing the same. Two wisps of silver emerged from their wands, Laura's was taking a vague form but still unrecognisable.

Max's was also indistinguishable but more active. It charged at the dementor while Laura's stayed to protect the group. They saw harry start to shake and recast the spell putting more power in. Max could feel her bad memories fighting to the front of her mind the shear amount was almost over whelming. She saw her recast patronus nearer to a form but her vision was blurring and she saw black.

Lara saw her friend fall and almost dropped her guard, behind her Harry was slumped on a chair and both Hermione's and Draco's eyes were wide but not seeing, she moved backward unconsciously and knocked into Lupin who woke and almost immediately sprung into action casting his own stronger patronus, mainly due to practice. He got the dementors out of the compartment and cast a lumos he saw the two unconscious students two clearly shocked and one who was directing a weak patronus.

Draco was the first to snap out of it. He managed to fall on Hermione trying to figure out what happened causing her to also snap out of it. They put Max on a seat, when she had collapse it had been onto the floor. Laura was checking for any more dementor's while Lupin handed out chocolate. Harry regained consciousness not long later and was also handed chocolate.

"Why hasn't Max woken yet?" asked Draco he was terrified from the experience and for his friend. Laura had the answer.

"Max has a lot of bad memories, most include death, she's seeing some of them again. She was the closest to the creatures so would have been affected a lot, hopefully she'll wake before we get to school. I doubt she wants to wake in the hospital wing" was he explanation.

Truth was Max was reliving not just her imprisonment at Orochimaru's hideout, the dementors had almost completely shattered her mind shield and unburied memories supposed to stay hidden. She saw Yuri die again Itachi become a missing nin finding out she was one, Orochimaru's genjutsu, missions she had been on that she never wanted to remember.

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reviews feed sirius tacos, so feed sirius or else sirius will haunt you as a grim


	18. Max's fear and Annoying the Bumblebee

still not on my own computer so may have typos, this chapter might be a bit sad but i dont like stories that have nothing bad happening and everyting going right and the stuff also seemed to fit

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Max woke up shaking five minutes before they got to the station, and had chocolate practically forced down her throat before she could say a word. While she was eating she looked around, Lupin was missing but the other looked a bit shaken but fine and most importantly they still looked like they had a soul. She swallowed the last of the chocolate and felt her hands stop shaking.

The rest of the journey was in silence. Max spent most of it staring into space her face void of emotion, she barely acknowledged the others after she had made her assessment of how they were. Her mind was reeling as she attempted to put the mind barriers up and force the unwanted memories away, from the state of her mind it would take a long time, from a few weeks up to a few years. For the time being she would just avoid eye contact with anyone.

At the station they got onto the carriages still silent. Most of the students were. The dementors hadn't had a good effect on the kids, some of the first years were really pale the second years weren't much better.

Laura was furious, in her mind she had been reviewing the contract and part of it stated that any ninjas on the mission should be informed prior to the mission start of any and all dangers and show have a course on defence techniques by a qualified instructor.

Dumbledore hadn't mentioned the dementors, it was herself and max who had and they had taught themselves the charm. The consequences would not be good, especially if the leaf village pulled the alliance with England, for endangering the shinobi on the mission. She grinned to herself, it was her turn to mess with the headmasters plans.

Max was not pleased, the second she had reached the castle Madam Pomfrey had tried to get her to the hospital wing. 'Tried' being the word she had flat out refused and promptly disappeared in the crowds heading for the great hall.

During the introduction of professor Lupin many people were looking at Max to she what kind of things she would say about him. She remained silent until Dumbledore said about the dementors.

"As you may have seen on the train the castle is holding host to a group of dementors, they are here for your protection" at this point Max cleared her throat.

"So the sugar has finally gone to your head them, you're letting them near a castle full of children, some with bad past experiences, they don't want to have to relive them, I would know. I had to relive most of mine and it wasn't pleasant. I dot want to have to repeat it, so unless they are removed I will be removing myself and the students who are with me and any protection" she said loud and clear, her eyes looked haunted instead of guarded as they had been before. Dumbledore had a panicked look, if the ninjas withdrew their protection who knows what would happen to his plans.

"Maxine I would like to see you in my office after the feast and we will discuss it later"

"So you can bush it under a carpet by removing certain memories, I think not, due to breach of the contract under section 37 b, 'failure to inform shinobi of potential dangers and any special defence needed, resulting in injury of one of said shinobi resultant in forfeiture of protection.' Hogwarts is no longer under the shinobis protection. The mission is to be abandoned unless the headmaster can contest a suitable reason for why the shinobi should be put in danger" said Laura, she hated seeing Max the was she was, she would take her revenge Max had always kept her amused and safe, so she would do the same.

"What's a she-no-bee?" asked a second year Gryffindor.

"Its basically Japanese for a male ninja and can be used as plural, like for many languages the male noun is dominant, like in French verb…" Hermione began to babble until Harry place a hand over her mouth.

"There are ninjas here, cool, how come we haven't seen them" piped up the same kid.

"Don't be stupid. You can't see a ninja unless they're going to kill you" said his friend. This sparked a hall wide debate on the matter between the younger years, Max knew she could not have done that better herself.

"May I have your attention" projected Dumbledore, his voice causing the debates to stop.

"You can discuss this after I have finished and until otherwise told the dementors will be stationed on all entrances and exits I would like to see both Maxine and Laura Hakie in my office after the feast" said Dumbledore. He was scheming in his head, this could get some of his plans back on track, if some of the ninjas were more susceptible to the dementors it would be easier to negotiate terms that benefit him more. And if they try to leave the have to go passed the dementors. The only flaw in his plan was the existence of the secret passages.

The feast appeared in front of them Max checked her food discreetly, her encounter with the dementors had bought back her paranoia full pelt. Laura noticed this and sighed. The sigh turned to a frown that mirrored the one on Max's face.

Max was not happy as usual, her food had an unknown substance in it, she took a sample to test and avoided eating anything. Laura had notice and checked her own food coming up with the same conclusion, she waved her wand, casting an analysis charm, she grew angry when she saw the results, a compulsion potion. One that was delayed working and by her calculations it would work when they were supposed to see Dumbledore.

Max decided payback was in order, she unsealed a few chemicals from a scroll and threw some tiny balloons filled with different chemicals onto the teachers table. The result was a tone of foam everywhere. She managed to do it all with a straight face so to avoid suspicion.

After the feast Max and Laura headed to his office they had silently discussed their plan of action using ANBU sign language which Laura being the observant person she is, had picked up. At the gargoyle Max lit up a fist and threatened the thing.

"If you do not move out of the way this fist will find its way up your.."

"Max! The head master requested us to see him and so if he didn't give us the password then there is not point us bothering" Laura said, they turned to walk away when the gargoyle moved aside. The two girls grinned and walked over and up the stairs to Dumbledore office. Inside the headmaster was sitting behind his desk, his fingers steepled.

"Get to the point" Max said straight of the bat. She ignored the offer of candy

"The dementors are here for.."

"I said get to the point, why did you endanger my team without informing them of the potential danger!" said Max coldly, she made her ANBU clone appear after making it talk to the rest of her team to find out what experiences they had.

"I was under the impression they were under your masked friends command"

"Ookami is here to make sure we are safe to the best of their abilities, I am the highest rank after that so I and in charge of the others not tell me your reason or we will leave and you can consider the alliance null and void" she said.

"They were her to make sure the fugitive wasn't hiding with you, you ay have been aiding him"

"That's a crap reason, Kakashi comes up with better ones, what do you think of his pathetic excuse Laura?"

"Under our contract we can't, section 8c 'any shinobi is forbidden from aiding any criminal', if we break our contract then we are striped of rank, every time we go on a mission we are representing our village, if we break contract it doesn't look good for the village" explained Laura. Dumbledore looked at a pocket watch and both Max and Laura saw a small grin appear on his face fleetingly.

"Why don't you just over look this one mishap? Surely it hasn't affected the mission to much" he asked sweetly.

"No" said Laura bluntly, surprising the old man.

"Spiking our food is a blatant attempt on us, bad form old man, bad form. I check all my food, I may be paranoid but I would prefer to be paranoid than dead" said Max, with a look that said 'do I look stupid'

"You should respect me I am the headmaster, not 'old man' as you put it"

"I only respect one authoritarian figure and that is the Hokage because she has earned it" snapped Max. Dumbledore glared at her, Max resisted the urge to glare back, her mind shield was still shattered and she had too many secrets.

"Next time you spike one of my team's food, we will take it as an act of war and act accordingly. Don't ever underestimate a shinobi for it will be the last thing you do, we will stay until your next attempt at controlling us, this is your only warning" Max said and she walked out with Laura behind her. Her clone took one sour glance at the headmaster and disappeared.

The next morning, the ninjas had a conference at the slytherin table discussing what was going on. They all were warned about what the headmaster had done, and that if he tried again what to do. The rest of the first term went smooth enough. Max had been working in all of her free time to get her mind defences back in place.

The first hogsmede weekend was coming up and Dumbledore called Max and the other ninjas to his office. He explained that not all of them would be able to go since harry couldn't and he was their main priority. They decided Max, Laura and Kiba would go and check the place out. When they got there Max clarified where she was going and went to meet Sirius.

In the cave she saw the black dog sleeping so she poked it until it woke and they bounce ideas of how to get the rat. They decided to get it to go through a couple of people since she wasn't really trusted being a 'snake'.

For defence the slytherins didn't cover boggarts they were told they would do it after Christmas. The quidditch matches had been fine, Dumbledore had gotten the message. So obviously either Dumbledore had know about what the dementors would do or he made sure that they would come onto the pitch.

The one defence lesson with the boggart worried Max slightly, she didn't know what her fear was and whether the rest of the class would need counselling because of it. It was the first day of spring which the lesson fell on. When it finally came it turned disastrous.

It had turned into Sasuke first; he was in his level two cursed seal form.

"It's your fault, you could have prevented this, if you hadn't gone off you could have stopped this" the real Sasuke who was standing at the back of the room looked shocked. Max raised her wand to say the counter charm when it switched forms. She heard her gasped mirrored from Sasuke. In front of her stood Itachi with the Mangekyo spinning. Most of the class didn't know who it was and most of the girls had hearts in their eyes.

"You never could get anything right you were just a burden, why do you think Yuri died? Mangekyo: Tsukiyomi" were his cruel words. Max didn't look away from his eyes in time and entered the world of Tsukiyomi. In the red tinted world Itachi stood before her, she found herself attached to a wooden cross, like she had seen Kakashi in the anime episode.

She saw him withdraw his katana and stab it in her gut. He pulled it out and stabbed again. For the next seventy two hours she endured this. When it finally finished she jerked back to the real world and collapsed to the floor.

She could hear the people around her fussing over her. They had only seen them maintain eye contact for three seconds then Max had collapsed. Sasuke was the only one who had known what had happened.

Max was too shocked to do anything. She noticed the boggart become the moon and then a popped balloon and it went back into the cupboard. She curled up into the foetal position and for the first time in over 18 years she cried.

She had been strong even when her teacher had died, the last time she had cried was when she was ten in the other universe.

She didn't feel herself get moved to the hospital wing. She didn't notice Madam Pomfrey try to get her to drink some potions. She didn't notice Laura burst in and stop the nurse and explain why not.

After what had just happened Max may not trust anyone, let alone someone trying to force feed her potions that she can't be sure of. Max just lay in the bed unaware of everything going on around her, the team took it in turns to be there in case she woke up, the wouldn't allow anyone near her not even the headmaster. Laura had sent word to Konoha about it, their team leader was down and they needed to report it since Max was unavailable she was next in the command chain.

A week later Tsunade turned up, she looked furious. One of her top ninjas had been injured on a supposedly easy mission and it had been done by the client not what they were protecting against.

For Tsunade it was an easy job of healing but Max would still need to build up her mind defences and she would still be wary of people, especially Itachi. It reminded her of some news she had to tell the team. They were all gathered around Max's bed, despite being healed she had been told to stay on bed by Madam pomfrey.

"As of last week Itachi Uchiha was reinstated as a Konaha ninja at the rank of jounin, he was framed for the massacre and had been under cover for the last few years, he will be joining you on this mission because of Max's condition" all but Sasuke and Max were shocked, Laura was less shocked, she had a feeling about the whole thing. What she was really annoyed about was the fact he out ranked her. Tsunade saw the look and remembered her last piece of news.

"In light of the new evidence Max has been promoted to jounin, since Itachi was the reason of her demotion" most of the team still looked confused but less so.

"Itachi will be here in three days, and will be under the guise of a 5th year" happy that she had no more news Tsunade left to go back to Konoha, she just hoped I wasn't a smouldering ruin, then she remembered Naruto was at Hogwarts so it would be safe.

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please review


	19. Explosions and Messing with Hair

I know its short but i leave for camp tommorow so i wont be updating for a week and a bit. I will update as soon as i can though.

I got my chemisty AS level result yesterday, B overall so i shall continue it next year.

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Max was allowed out of the hospital wing by the third day; Laura had been put in charge along with Max's clone. She had been ready to move around since Tsunade had left but the school nurse had been adamant about her 'resting'. She had been so tempted to switch with a clone but one prod of the wand would have given her away.

True to Tsunade's guess she was reclusive for the day, spending most of it on top of the astronomy tower sending a clone to her lessons. Anyone who mentioned the incident got a death glare and if they were really unlucky they would find themselves pined to a wall.

Some of the rumours were really stupid, according to one person she 'fainted' from his handsomeness, another was that it was an ex-boyfriend who had abused her. Both had mysteriously withdrawn their rumours.

None of the group blamed Lupin, he hadn't known what would happen, he may have known she had had bad experiences but not that her fear was so dangerous.

Itachi had arrived at dinner, within seconds he had a fan club, he was quickly sorted, and none of the ninjas were surprised to see him go to Slytherin. Most of the school was confused when he sat with Max who had been forced to come down. Laura had hidden her blood pops again. They were all waiting for Max to collapse again from the guys presence. They were a bit disappointed when nothing interesting happened.

Until the teachers table exploded anyway. Max and Laura had rigged the thing with C4. They didn't really have a reason to explode it, it just amused them and distracted them from the serious dealings. It was repaired quickly but the food had been on the floor, and Snape had really liked his steak.

The teachers cast some spells to see if they could determine what spell caused the table to explode. Max and Laura had to try really hard not to laugh and give the game away. Unfortunately McGonagall noticed.

"Maxine and Laura what are you two sniggering about"

"You assume that the table exploded because of a spell" said Laura

"You seem to know a lot about this" inquired the stern professor

"Because I have a higher intelligence of a deformed peanut you assume that I had something to do with it"

"Did you?"

"No, of course not, why would I blow up the teachers table with C4, that would be stupid of me and irresponsible to tell you how it was done" said Laura rolling her eyes.

"So you did do it"

"No did you not here what I just said" she said rolling her eyes again. She knew full well what she had said could not be used as proof. Max how ever had been thinking, she removed the detonator from her pocket and flicked the switch again. The table promptly exploded again. Now Max couldn't help but laugh. When the table had been repaired the C4 had been returned to how it was before so thus could explode again.

A teacher repaired it only for it to explode. Max had fallen of her chair and Laura was close.

It had been ten minutes since Itachi had shown up when the doors opened again and Kakashi walked in.

"Sorry I'm late but apparently you aren't allowed sharp weapons through customs and it took a while to find all of them" the ninjas sweatdroped.

Max took another detonator out of her pocket, hidden by the table, she activated it. A horde of fireworks got sent up from around the table. It spread into a multi coloured starburst, each little spark floated down and landed on a student turning their hair the colour the spark had been.

Max had dark green hair, Laura had purple, Naruto had neon orange and Sasuke had pale green. Itachi how ever took one look at the colour of his hair and turned to Max and glared at her. He knew it was her fault, only she would dare give him pink hair, at least it was dark pink not candy pink like Sakura. Max looked up to see the glare, she 'eep'ed and ran out the great hall.

She wouldn't ever admit she was still scared but more nervous, she just hid it really well, she idly wondered if she hadn't become a ninja maybe she should have been an actress or a con person. As usual she ended up on the roof, she only then remembered her deal with Laura, she had to stay at dinner for the whole time or she could forget seeing her blood pops again.

She felt someone sit next to her and turned to find Itachi, he was making it blatantly obvious that he was not going to do any harm.

"Why pink"

"It matches you nails" they sat in silence for a bit. Max only just noticed Itachi fall asleep when he slumped against her shoulder. She remembered the times she had fallen asleep on him, the time she had bitten him by accident. Slowly she was getting back to how she was before the various incidents. When Itachi tried to shift position he ended up with his head in Max lap. Max had to try really hard to suppress giggles.

She lent back against the roof and stared at the stars. Her fingers were carding with his hair when she had a great idea. She would be in so much trouble but it would be so worth it. She started to plait his hair.

The sun was just rising when Itachi woke. he tried to snuggle back up, he had been travelling for a while and jet lag was a pain. His pillow was so warm and squid… wait, warm and squidgy, not soft and fluffy. He unknowingly did what Max did when she woke in this position and try to figure out who was nearby.

Max was wondering if she ever looked this confused when she woke up in an unknown place and/or position. Itachi shot up when he figured it out, nervously he ran his hand through his hair and got confused when it got stuck. He felt his hair and realised what had been done. He also noticed it was still pink.

"Do you love tormenting me first the pink hair now a plait. Why did you feel the need to plait my hair anyway? What did it ever do to you?" he asked indignantly

"I needed to practice and since I couldn't exactly get up I had to use you" answered Max brightly, lack of sleep did that to her sometimes. Mainly she did it to annoy those who were still sleepy in the morning. Without warning she was hoisted over his shoulder. Between a mix of experience and luck he managed to not get hurt to badly as he made his way down to the lake.

"You should have remembered from the list. Do Not Mess With My Hair" he said then dropped her ungracefully in the lake not giving her enough warning to allow her to mould chakra to stay on top of the water.

She surfaced with an evil grin on her face. Using her chakra she walked over the waters surface over to him. She took a flying leap at him, glad that none of her wardrobe contained white, and sent some balls of fire at him.

This naturally spread into an all out spar. Some of the early risers had noticed them and gone out to watch despite it being a cold morning. They traded most of their techniques that wouldn't level the school unaware of their audience. Until they saw the other ninjas heading towards them.

--

Please review, the next chapter will be longer


	20. End of third year and Scorpia trouble

Author runs into room and slides on knees to the middle of a staged that has magically apeared I am back from camp, yay, no more bitchy tent mate. I still miss my german buddy, his hair was so adorable and i really miss him.

The next exchange camp wont be for at least two years and it will be to france. If they cooked like they did on camp i may not go it was mostly burnt, including the chocolate sauce.

Anyway my excuse for not updating is i have barly had time to check reveiws in the last two weeks. the camp wasnt two weeks but home hospitality made up the last few days. what was really funny was my bitchy tent mate had about four german guys staying with her, all older than her and she had flirted with all of them. when the english had found out who my english tent mate was they all said they felt sorry for me.

I found out why when she calling one of her friends when i was trying to sleep in the early hours of the morining (7 maybe 8) i swear she didnt need that phone to talk to the person she was so loud and right next to me.

i miss some of the english kids too but mainly the german boy with the adorably fluffy hair, which i kept stroking. any other detail are on my LJ if your really want to know (link in profile)

anyway on with the next chapter

--

Max and Itachi froze, Max was just about to kick Itachi in the face and Itachi was about to duck and kick her legs out. They didn't see Dumbledore approaching them from a different direction.

"What do you think you're doing, fighting is prohibited on school grounds" said Dumbledore thinking they had stopped because of his presence. Max turned to him with a sour look.

"We were keeping in shape unless you want us to become obese like the rest of this school" some of the bystanders took offence to this other knew it was true.

"Besides its not fighting its sparing" added Itachi, they noticed Laura was glaring at them and they tried to cower behind each other.

"Itachi take it like a man and protect me" said Max.

"She's your friend call her off" protested Itachi trying to shove her in front.

"You're trying to hide behind me... I'm shorter than you, it ain't going to work" said Max dodging behind him.

"Both of you two, front and centre" Laura barked. Both Ex-ANBU stopped trying to hide and stood side by side to attention trying to look dignified, Itachi failed, his hair was still pink and plaited. They still wanted to live and if Laura was pissy then obeying all but stupid commands was the best way to do it.

"Everyone but those with a reason to be here vamoosh" she snarled everyone but the ninjas scarpered. Dumbledore stayed though which annoyed Laura. She turned on him.

"Did you not hear what I said? You don't have a reason to be here, no school rules have been broken so it doesn't concern you" she growled.

"It took place on school ground so it's my concern"

"Beat it old man, you didn't notice the teacher with Voldemort in the back of his head or the next teacher was a fraud, you only notice things when it suits you, so get the hell away so I can deal with this" Laura for some reason was scaring the headmaster. Though Max valued her life too much to say it was her breath. Dumbledore decided it wouldn't be good to argue and swept off.

"Do you two have any idea how much attention you raised? A kid came running in saying there was a fight going on and the two fighters were using really advanced magic like fireballs, without a wand" Laura scolded, both Ex-ANBU bowed their heads.

"If you two need to fight there's a perfectly good room or forest were half the school wont see you" both shuffled around nervously. Neither noticed the double meaning.

"Next time if you see Dumbledore coming try to shoot something destructive at him by accident so he becomes dissuaded about trying to manipulate us. But any of your little spats should not be shown to the entire school" Laura finished and walked off muttering about high level ninjas behaving like five year olds. Both Max and Itachi sighed in relief, they had no idea Laura had decided to play matchmaker with them and this would only be the beginning.

What Laura had done was not punish them so they wouldn't get discouraged from spending time with each other. She also noticed the next day Itachi's hair was back to normal unlike the rest of the school who would have coloured hair for the rest of the week. She also noticed small braids in his hair, they must have compromised.

What made Max really glad that she had been around was, the Buckbeak incident had never happened, so that execution had never be jeopardising the time line with Hermione and her time turner.

The end of the year was pretty boring, Max ended up with 'scabbers' as her plan had manoeuvred and accidentally used the Animagus revealing spell during breakfast, the chaos it caused left both Max and Laura amused for ages.

Sirius was pardoned, it couldn't be hushed up for several reasons, one the entire of the great hall had seen it, two any mass obliviate would have caused chaos with the alliance and three Max and Laura would have caused more chaos if he hadn't been pardoned.

Dumbledore had been trying to persuade both Sirius and Harry that Harry would be better protected at his aunts, they had refused, and then Max waltzed in and let a bunch of things slip, like the prophecy and that if no one knew where they were, say in an unplottable place it would be hard to find them. To say Dumbledore was displeased would be an understatement.

Max was still confusing people, the way she had seemingly gotten over the incidents of the year so well. Itachi was especially bugged; he was used to being able to read her even if she didn't know he could read her like a book. He had confronted her the day before they were due to leave.

"How come you're so strong even after what you've been through, you have your fears but still are strong, some of the things you've been through are bad the first time but having to repeat them would mentally crush someone yet your still standing tough"

"Strength is not being without fear. True strength is when one moves forward despite their greatest fears, that's what I did, it's how I moved on, every time something bad happened I moved on, I continued to live, its what I do." Itachi almost groaned Max would never give a straight answer if she didn't want to answer. It's what made her so good at keeping information.

A few days latter there had been a terrorist scare so all flights had been grounded and the wizarding world had put a hold on many international porkeys.

Most foreigners trying to get home had been housed in nearby vacant flats for the time being. The ninjas were allocated two flats at the palm hill estate; they had taken a bus and on the way got stuck in a small jam.

The car next to them had some old school rock so Max and Laura were playing air guitar or drums. The two occupants of the battered ford had noticed and were rocking out on their own air instruments as they cranked the music up. As the bus pulled away Max and Laura moped at the loss of good music.

They finally arrived at the nearest stop and got of and following directions they had been given they headed to their home for the next god knows how long.

They were in two, two bedroom flats on the second floor both with balconies, it had been decided that boys would get one and girls get the other. Kiba, Naruto and Shikamaru would share a room and the two Uchiha's would share. The girls in the end drew straws to see who would be stuck with Sakura.

In the end it was Laura and Sakura in one and Ino and Hinata in the other, Max had decided to sleep on the couch, seeing as her sleeping habits were all over the place and didn't want to disturb them all the time. They heard Baba O'Riley being blasted of from downstairs.

This triggered something within Max's head but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, if she still had her mind shield it would have been so much easier since her thoughts had been ordered then.

They had sent Hinata and Naruto to get fresh food, just some of Max's plans for match making the couple. Her excuse had been they need someone who was strong to carry the bags and someone who wouldn't get distracted easily. The rest of them settled down in their respective places. Laura and Ino were planing to head to the Reservoir some kids had mentioned down the hall.

Max went out to find extent of the area but finished up lost in her thoughts and ended up in central London wandering around the Chelsea area, she had some money on her but mainly wandered around aimlessly window shopping.

It was getting dark so Max decided to head back, what she didn't expect was a guy on a bike heading full pelt down the pavement followed by motor bike, Max's eyes followed its she shrugged and gave chase. As she got closer she noticed the cyclist looked really familiar.

It hit her like a sledge hammer in the stomach, this was a 17 year old Alex rider, and he was in trouble again. Max took a flying leap onto the motor bike, landing neatly on the back.

Only then did she notice the dark blue barley visible logo on the back of the rider's jacket. A scorpion. Scorpia. What had Alex done to annoy them now? Max wondered and she swiftly dismounted the rider, she quickly got a feel for riding the bike, as she had been about 16 when she had left her universe she had never learnt and there was no way she was going near a moped.

As she continued the chase she saw Alex look back and notice the rider had changed, he recognised her silver hair streaming behind her and slowed down to a stop. Max drove up beside him.

"Why is Scorpia after you" she asked bluntly. She almost laughed at the surprise on Alex's face.

"How do I know? The guy I kicked of the bike had a scorpion on his back"

"Many people could have scorpions on their backs" Max nodded in agreement but continued to justify her case

"But Scorpia have already been after you once, wasn't that the reason you got shot a few years back"

"How do you know all these things?"

"I have many connections so how have you been, I see you recovered fine from the shot and I doubt I was the only one bugged by Mr Blunt and Mrs Jones"

"They sent me around a few times to places. They stopped when I was 16 though" said Alex vaguely. Max knew the next two but after that was a mystery.

"I've successfully avoided them, its funny, they think they can blackmail me but they failed. Despite my lack of a distinct accent I come from America and have friends in high places so unless they want an incident they can go screw themselves"

"So what have you been doing other than annoying them then?"

"Boarding school and back to America for the holidays" said Max.

"So it seems you have some secrets too" Max just looked confused.

"Anyone else would be explaining it in detail" he explained.

"The only difference is I know some of your secrets and you know none of mine" they didn't notice a few black motor bikes subtly surrounding them until Max heard the revving of an engine. Each had a subtle blue scorpion somewhere on the rider or the bike, Max with her enhanced senses could pick them out.

They were surrounded completely and when a bullet passed Max's shoulder they found they're were people on the roofs too. The reflection of the scopes pointed them out to Max.

Exasperated Max pinched the bridge of her nose, getting out of this without showing of her abilities would be a pain in the ass. She would at least stick to weapons not Justus's. She delicately withdrew a bunch of sebon attached to wires so she could get them back and not leave any evidence.

With a flick of her wrist she sent them at the roof top assailants disabling them, and other flick sent the next batch into the bikers most of them slumped and some fell of their bikes. She retracted her weapons and grabbed Alex's hand and started running. Alex grabbed his bike and started pedalling with Max stood on the back.

"Do you have a safe house or anything or go to" asked Max over the wind, Alex shook his head. Max rolled her eyes; any agent should be given a safe house, retired or active.

"Take the next left" she ordered, she would direct him to her flat and he would be protected then by the others as well as herself.

"Where are we going?" he shouted.

"My house" Alex nodded again and continued to pedal. When he got tired they switched places. It was about one in the morning when they got to the flat. It didn't surprise Max that most of the others were still up, she quickly introduced them and the circumstances of Alex being there.

The rest of the night they stayed up bouncing ideas of getting rid of Scorpia, they knew better than to say they could do half of these methods but it was still fun. Laura and Ino had told their story of the reservoir and some kid had a shattered elbow from some other new kids who aparently lived downstairs.

9 am the next morning dawned to a grey drizzle and the group were all asleep having stayed up until five. All of them were completely out of it. This is how they didn't notice three motor bikes park up next to the building. What they hadn't seen is a black car park up behind them.

The three motorcyclists dismounted their bikes and headed over the door, using some sort of gadget they opened it and began to head up to the second floor. One of the occupants of the car followed as far at the first floor to his own flat.

When the door to the girl's apartment was crashed open the ninjas were immediately awoken and alert. Alex took a bit longer and was also awake. Laura however still slept, she wasn't a ninja so wasn't used to getting up at the slightest sound of trouble.

She had also stayed up later for reasons that had made it worth it. She now had a nice picture of Itachi and Max curled up together.

The three bikers were clearly surprised by the reaction of almost everyone, they didn't back down though, they were the best so against a bunch of teenagers most of them only just teen, they could not loose. Or so they thought.

--

who can guess the new crossover, in this chapter there have been hints but very subtle ones that you probably brushed off, if you can guess which book in the series then extra points

when i update will be unknown as school will be starting soon and i will need to concentrate on doing homework for once (shock for teachers)

please reveiw


	21. Trouble spelt J o n e s

Gasp. Another chapter so soon, is the author ill or something.

Answer: no, just bored, i have to go into school tomorrow to sign up fo my classes, yawn, it could be worse i supose.

--

The ninjas had slipped into their starting stances, Alex had done the same but his was noticeably different and less refined, he hadn't done the same amount of practise as the ninjas. The three bikers had their helmets still on but Max could tell they were smirking.

"Do you really think you have a chance against us" was the muffled question from one of the helmets.

"As long as the sun rises and sets everything has a chance" said Max, the gleam was present in her eyes, the one her enemies feared. All of the ninjas knew not to used Justus or too much special abilities. The only disadvantage was the size of the room. Max leapt over the back of the sofa when she saw a gun pointed in her direction and saw the trigger pulled, there was a hole where Max's head had been.

Everyone else had jumped into action the second the gunshot sounded. Itachi and Sasuke handled the one that had fired the gun while the others split up to beat up the other two. The Scorpia agents may have been skilled but against two jounin Ex-ANBU, the smartest chunin, two powerful genin, the girl who messed with minds, the teenage superspy, the cutest dog on the mission, his human partner and Sakura. That and the ninjas cheated, they had sharp weapons and the expertise to use them properly and chakra to enhance reaction speed. The attackers were out for the count in five minutes with minimal damage to the room.

The trio were searched and tied up. Max made a point to search their mouths for suicide pills, she had one of her own in a false tooth, and had had it since she had become jounin for the first time. Alex figured not asking questions would be best at the moment.

"Do you have anyone to call to hand these people over too" Max asked. Alex shook his head, then he remembered his leaving present from Smithers, it was an IPod similar to the one he had at ark angel, he had gotten it with the message 'just in case'. He got it out and pressed play three times to activate the beacon.

"They should be here soon" the other sat down to wait. They didn't see the car that had dropped of the kid who lived on the floor below return. Out of the car a man in a suit exited and headed up. He knocked on the broken door to gain their attention.

"What's the situation?" the man asked to Alex.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Max bluntly.

"John Jones Ex-MI5 called in to see what was up since I was in the area"

"Those three guys busted into here and just insult us when we make a move to ready ourselves for a fight then they shot one of us and missed so we took them down" explained Alex, he then got smacked around the back of the head by Max. Alex turned to her looking like a kicked puppy.

"What was that for?" he whined

"Do you own a brain, he hasn't shown have any proof that he's Ex-MI5, he could be another one of them" she said and hit him again for good measure. Mr Jones removed his wallet and showed some ID

"Do you have any idea who you just took down" asked Mr Jones after examining the unconscious bodies.

"Nope" was the general response.

"These three are some of the most skilled but arrogant assassins Scorpia has, they have never failed a job so they took this one for granted, you are some amazing kids" he said. He took out a phone and dialled a number while walking over to the window. After a brief conversation he came back over.

"Some people are on their way to pick these three up"

"Good, there's barley enough room for the people who live here of us let alone a bunch more"

"Can I trust you to keep an eye on them I want to question some of you neighbours?" Max didn't believe his story for one second but agreed anyway. They heard him go down the stairs and open a door to what was the room under them.

Max headed to the window and hoped to hear the conversation but the window below was shut and if she tried any of her techniques might be seen. To help with the silence Sakura turned on the radio, Max immediately tried changed station when some R&B blasted out Sakura stood her ground trying to keep it. The R&B had woken Laura who had started screaming.

"It burns, it buuuurrrrnns" before melodramatically falling to the floor. Akamaru had started howling until Max shoved Sakura away and changed it. Akamaru shut up and Laura got up as if nothing had ever happened. Mr Jones ran into the room followed by two blond boys who could pass as related, just about. Max and Laura recognised them as the two guys in the car with the loud music.

"What was the screaming about?" asked John Jones looking around frantically

"Bad choice of music of the girl with pink hair. Who are those two?" said Max.

"David and James Holmes, they live below you" then it click with Max it was another series, she could have almost laughed at the irony of two different spy sections meeting under these circumstances. James Adams and David Moss: CHERUB agents and if she remembered correctly it was book 4: The Killing.

Not long later three black SUVs with tinted windows turned up. Max was staring out the window at the time and groaned when the first person stepped out a vehicle; it seemed Mrs Jones wanted to see who had taken down three assassins.

Max laughed briefly at the realisation that John Jones and Mrs Jones had the same last name, and then began to panic, getting out of this was going to be a pain. The song currently going through Max's head was GIR's doom song from Invader Zim. Laura was thinking similarly.

The others didn't know what to expect. As Mrs Jones entered the room, Max's mind was desperately trying to come up with an escape plan. She knew she was doomed the second the woman laid eyes on her.

"Look who it is, I should have expected this. How do you plan on getting away now? This building is surrounded" taunted Mrs Jones.

"Well I did help take down these three so some of your men shouldn't be too much of a hassle" Max said covering up her nervousness.

"All of them are to be taken into custody and questioned about the incident"

"We're underage, we need a parent or guardian present" said Laura, the only reason she knew this was because of an incident at school when someone got stabbed and they got told not to say anything with out a parent or guardian present.

"We also have the right to know why you're taking us into custody" said Max, she never thought Life Skills would come in so handy.

"Where is your 'parent or guardian'?"

"We don't have one so technically you can't question us"

"That means you're an orphan so a ward of the state" said Mrs Jones thinking she had the upper hand.

"Of America" added Max triumphantly. No adult was going to get the upper hand with her. It had been tried by some one over 150 years old and they failed.

"Do you have anyone who could act as your Guardian" sighed Mrs Jones

"I suppose Kakashi could but if I knew where he was I wouldn't be here or you could just make us write statements about this incident"

"Statements it is" said Mrs Jones after reaching into a briefcase for some paper.

"Slight problem, not all of them can write English" this was true, at the end of the year they had given back the translaty thing, how Naruto and Hinata got the food? Well you would be surprised how little you need to speak.

"We can have some one translate"

"_Ten points to every unrelated anecdote you can fit in_" Max said in Japanese to her friends. Alex hid a chuckle with a cough. Max then remembered her spoke Japanese.

"_Twenty if it relates to porn or events that never happened_" added Laura. They both looked innocently at Mrs Jones. Alex was still attempting not to laugh and give the game away. It took about 15 minutes to finish. Max had asked for paper on no less than three occasions only to get bored and make it into a paper aeroplane and throw it at someone then ask for more paper.

After they were done, the three attackers were taken away. Mrs Jones threw a glare at Max and they were left alone. Max had once again out manoeuvred the military intelligence of England.

It was two weeks until they finally got the chance to get on their way home. Alex got given a safe house for the time being until Scorpia gave up. The last two weeks had been like a holiday, they had spent a load of it mucking around.

They had gotten to know James and David from downstairs as well as the other occupants. The day before they were due to leave was the day the massive bust went down, Max had managed to watch some of it and know another mission was done.

It was a shame Max couldn't go to CHERUB campus though or see some of the other missions. Divine Madness was one of the ones she wanted to live through just to muck with peoples heads. She love mucking up religion, it was the sole reason she hadn't died in Religious studies.

On the way they saw a car speed passed being chased by a couple of police cars. They didn't see the shots from the first car hit the tire of the bus causing it to skid around into a brick building. Everyone in the bus were caught unaware, the ninjas had been at the front and had moved to protect themselves with second to spare.

Laura headed to the driver to investigate, the amount of blood she could see didn't look good. She saw a bullet size hole in the front window. She looked at the splatter on the back of the driver's seat and came up with the idea the driver probably got hit with one of the shots.

Max took charge of the situation while Laura was investigating.

"Would everyone keep calm, there has been an accident but I urge you to remain calm would everyone vacate the bus by the exit at the back as the front one would end up with you walking into a wall. Does anyone need help?" most of the passengers were shaken up but no major injuries, she wondered if anyone had heard her. Laura noticed something that made her freeze.

"_Max these people need to get of this bus its going to explode_" said Laura in Japanese so no one would understand and start to panic.

"Everybody out" she ordered snapping people out of their daze. Itachi and Naruto were at the back helping people out while the others were waiting their turn. Max and Laura were last out they could see police cars at a safe distance and ambulances on standby.

Max helped Laura out and with a look back to make sure nothing was left behind she hoisted herself out the window. She was just about to jump down when the bus exploded. She was propelled across the street into a window and halfway across the room, in mid flight she had curled up to protect her major organs and head. She came to land by a desk in a glass littered reception.

"That hurt" she groaned as she sat up and started to remove the glass so when she started healing they wouldn't get stuck under her skin. She was mildly aware of the receptionist who was in shock and the paramedics streaming in towards her. She was immediately set on by the paramedics prodded, poked and asked questions.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" asked paramedic one.

"Thirteen point seven nine" she said sarcastically.

"Her vision might be affected" suggested paramedic three.

"Or I may just lack the ability to count" she mused aloud.

"She's seems to have broken her left wrist and dislocated her left shoulder" concluded paramedic one. What happened to paramedic two? He's down the pub getting drunk.

"Don't poke it if it's broken, that damn hurts" said Max withdrawing her wrist from the fingers of the paramedics, she winced as she managed to jar her shoulder. She grabbed her right arm with her right hand and rotated it until it clicked back into place. The paramedics looked at her in shock and immediately took her to the nearest ambulance after dealing with her wrist before she did that too.

Max was lying in her hospital bed despite protests that she was fine. Some of the other ninjas were around; they had been caught in the blast. Outside the window Max could see it was raining. She couldn't get the feeling out of her head that something was wrong.

Then she realised, the rain was going up not down.

--

yes the crossover i was talking about last time was CHREUB The Killing, i didnt expect anyone te get it as i wouldnt have if it wasnt for the fact i had ben trawling though the book.

the next crossover should be a little more obvious

any ideas for crossovers, if i dont know the crossover i will still make an atempt


	22. Hospital on the Moon

I am officially a sixth former, meaning I have lessons and homework so updates will be less frequent probably only once a week.

I've been accepted onto all the courses I wanted to do. yay.

I got my time table yesterday and found that on friday week two (our timetable is a two week cycle) has double maths. at my school we dont have double lessons we dont even have two lessons the same on any particular day. what makes this worse is the two maths lessons are in different buildings just over a five minutes walk away and i have five minutes to walk across.

Thanks **Gabubi-baka** for your long reveiw and **Zene** and **Miorochi** for your reveiws, i dont thank people often in my stories but you three really manage to make my day. in fact Gabubi-baka realy made my day, on thursday i went to thorpe park with two of my friends, the place was emptier than ususal due to the fact most school went back that day. we got to go on most of the rides except rush which broke just as we were at the front and stealth which was being annoying, i came back practically glowing then went on my computer to find the amazing reveiw. so yea thanks.

--

Before Max could even warn anyone the buildings surrounding the hospital had gone. Max could see earth in its green and blue glory. Laura was gaping at the sight. A couple of floors away a person with two hearts groaned and started running.

Max leapt out of bed ripping the IV from her arm causing the machine next to her to start a continuous beep. She found the off button and pressed it. She quickly got changed back into her normal clothes making sure her scrolls were still there. She wasn't going to miss what action there was in this episode but she wasn't going to run around in a paper dress. She knew exactly what was going to happen if she did and would prefer she didn't flash the whole hospital.

Max skidded down the hall way to the lifts. Pressing the ground floor button she hopped from one foot to another anxiously. The doors seemed to slowly close and slowly descend to the ground floor. On the way down Max tried desperately to remember some of the details. She was rudely jerked out of her thoughts when the lift stopped on floor 9.

As the door opened she saw a familiar person, a million thoughts went through her head but the first was panic and she henged quickly into the girl she had for her first time ninja career. She reasoned that if he only met her for the first time on that mountain yet he only met Martha now he must have in his future gone there so shouldn't meet her now. At that point Max stopped thinking as her head was starting to hurt from the time travel stuff.

Into the lift walked the Doctor and Martha, the doctor was talking about something and Martha looked like she understood none of it. They turned to Max.

"You should stay in your ward" suggested Martha

"How do you know I'm not just a visitor?"

"There's blood dripping from where the IV was"

"Damn" Max exclaimed pressing her hand to the wound to staunch the flow of blood.

"You should get that wrapped up" advised Martha.

"I should but it will stop bleeding soon so I'm not going to" said Max.

"It's unsanitary"

"…" for once Max was silent with no comeback.

"I'll bandage it for you when we get to a floor" offered Martha. Max nodded, still a bit shock for not having a comeback. Martha may have thought the look on her face was because of the blood.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine"

"I've suffered worse, I just feel kind of creeped out. I mean we're on the moon" she said enthusiastically. Max was starting to realise lying was becoming habit, maybe she should have became an actress. They stopped at the next floor and Martha bandaged her arm as promised.

Max only then noticed the cast on her arm, she knew she had fallen asleep but luckily for her Itachi had covered her ears using a creative shadow clone and Henge. She didn't realise she had slept thought getting a cast, the explosion must have taken a lot out of her.

Either that or she pissed of the doctor so much he sedated her. Max remembered being very disagreeable in the hospital and the ambulance. Max left Martha and the doctor behind and headed for the lobby to a vending machine, inserting a few coins she got a couple of red bulls from it and started drinking. She made sure to save some for Laura.

When the rhino people came in the caffeine had kicked in and Max was bouncing of the walls, literally, using chakra she was jumping of the walls pretending to be Spiderman.

"Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies, look out! Here comes the Spiderman." She sung badly, people stopped to watch her bounce past mainly forgetting they were on the moon for a bit.

"Is he strong? Listen bud, He's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead. Hey, there. There goes the Spiderman." She continued using dental floss as the thread, she favoured her right arm as the left had a cast on.

"In the chill of night. At the scene of a crime. Like a streak of light. He arrives just in time." Laura had turned up after hearing of this from another patient. She grabbed some crutches and they began to mock fight. Max in the end won and Laura dramatically died.

"Spiderman, Spiderman. Friendly neighbourhood Spiderman. Wealth and fame, he's ignored. Action is his reward." Max sung as she leapfrogged some of the Rhino people. Either they didn't notice nor cared, but Max just carried on going.

"To him, life is a great big bang up. Whenever there's a hang up. You'll find the Spider man." Max finished by hanging from a balcony by some rope she had found somewhere. It was roughly yanked up by a Rhino person as they stuck the scanner in her face.

"Human, barley but no abnormalities that we are looking for mainly an unusual amount of caffeine in her blood steam." her hand was marked with the pen and she moved off.

"Hey, I'm completely human, asshole" Max yelled indignantly, the rhino ignored her. Max huffed and walked to the X-ray room to find the doctor shaking a foot saying something about radiation. She saw him put his shoe into the radiation bin and her eyes widened

"How could you do that to a converse, what did it ever do to you, and why don't you have socks on" she rambled. Both occupants in the room turned to her.

"Oh, its you again." Said the doctor before turning back to what he had been doing. Max's eyes went impossibly big and watery.

"Don't you love me anymore?" she asked sadly looking at him with her huge eyes. Martha was looking at her strange and the doctor looked confused, until they saw the cans of red bull in her bag which she had been too hyper to zip up properly.

"You do know that stuff can stunt your growth"

"Are you calling me short? Smaller than a pin, could get trampled at a kiddie's park!" Max demanded channelling Ed's personality.

"No, I was just pointing out it could cause you to prematurely stop growing"

"I know, I have more that 3 IQ points, on a human scale at least" at the last part the doctor narrowed his eyes.

"Who else would have an IQ scale"

"The rhino people, dolphins, people with two hearts" she smirked as the doctors eyes narrowed more.

"Who would you know with two hearts?"

"I have very sensitive hearing, normally I block out the normal stuff but two heartbeats threw me of track door a bit" Max was lying again but between lying and telling thee truth that would make her look crazy she'd take lying any day.

At this point Itachi walked in grabbed Max's bag and dragged Max out using it as a tow rope. He quickly counted the empty cans in her bag and sighed.

"I thought we gave you a limit on how much you were allowed"

"No one was there to stop me for I am Max the Amazing Ninja of Doom" she announced and made to run off only to be held back.

"Where do you plan on going now?"

"Uh, away from the meanie who wants to take my happy juice?"

"Tough, until you calm down you aren't going anywhere" he said, resisting Max's struggles. In the end he hugged her pinning her arms to her sides.

"You're gonna be here a looooonnnnnng time" Max smiled and she tried to bounce and use up the energy she was bursting with. They watched as the Doctor and Martha burst out the X-ray room and ran down the call way. Max tried to follow but was still pinned.

"I wanna follow" she pouted still struggling, Itachi was glad she hadn't tried using ninja techniques yet. Then it would get a bit destructive.

"No"

"Why not?" Max moped the fact she wasn't allowed to move

"I need this place to stay in one piece."

"Do you have a phone?" Max asked brightly

"I don't think you get reception on the moon"

"I don't want to call someone, I want to film the Rhino people"

"Why don't you use you're own"

"It's dead" said Max mock mournfully.

"No wonder you never answered your phone, how long has it been dead"

"A week" Itachi groaned in disbelief, he was sure they had been told to keep their phones charged up in civilian areas.

"So can I borrow it please" asked Max pleadingly acting as if she had never done anything wrong. Itachi was almost fooled into thinking she could be trusted not to break it. Almost.

"No, you're still hyper, to get to my phone I would have to loosen my grip on you allowing you to escape and wreak havoc. Who knows what would happen to it" Itachi said as he figured out Max's plan.

"How about I get it" Max asked cheekily. Itachi tried hard not to blush at her words. But shook his head not trusting his voice.

Max pouted again trying to be as cute and innocent as possible, it didn't work for two reasons, A, she was facing away from him, B, he was used to it so it had no affect on him. Max started to squirm again. She could not be still, the caffeine saw to that, she managed to turn around to face him using a lot of effort and skill. By then the caffeine had started to wear her down she was on the verge of crashing.

She randomly noticed she was quite a bit shorter than him, her nose came up to his shoulder. She was the second shortest out of the ninjas on the mission, Naruto being smallest. The air was getting thin as the oxygen was getting used up. They were running out of air, out of reflex Max and Itachi started to breathe lightly, in other parts of the hospital the other ninjas had too.

This also distracted Max enough to grab Itachi's phone and ran off with it. She quickly put it in film mode and ran to the lobby to film the Rhino people. She couldn't actually believe no one else had thought of it to prove what had happened. If she had been thinking straight or at all she would have figure the doctor had something to do with it or people were idiots.

In the area above the lobby she crouched by a bin and started filming, moving round the balcony overlooking the main lobby to get a good shot she even got pictures of out side in to her little film she was short of breath so the film was kind of jerky. She had just finished and was going to scarper before she was noticed by one of the Rhino people when she bumped into the owner of the phone she had been using.

"Uh oh" she exclaimed and hightailed it the other way, unfortunately due to lack of oxygen in the air she was out of breathe soon enough and Itachi who was walking to avoid what had happened to her. He took the phone from her grasp and pocketed it.

"Running anaerobicly for long periods of time is not recommended" he taunted the out of breath girl.

"Shut up" Max retorted between gasps of breath, she was starting to feel tired as she began to crash from her caffeine high. She wasn't the only one who noticed as Itachi began to countdown on his fingers.

"Curse you and your all knowingness of my habits" Max gasped, the lack of oxygen wasn't helping her get her breath back anytime soon. Talking didn't help either, so she resolved to speak less in order to keep breathing and not fall unconscious, she had already done that enough recently. She collapsed on the ground, feeling weak and drained. Oh how she hated it when she crashed from caffeine induced high. Though she should know better that to drink that much at once. Max was getting slightly creeped out as her mind was arguing with itself and it was weirding her out.

The air was getting thinner still and Itachi was starting to have trouble keeping his breath, Max had started to meditate, after using the last of her physical energy to sit up leaning against a wall, to stop her mind arguing and thus her breathing was very slow and not needing much more oxygen, it also let her keep her focus so her Henge wouldn't fail, that would lead to too many questions she didn't want. Itachi sat next to her, if the air got to thin he didn't want to be standing up when he collapsed.

At the end of the corridor in the window the rain was starting to go up again. A couple of floors away Laura was watching the water go past the window she was leaning against. Sasuke sat opposite her hoping that they would get out of this alive.

The opposite end of the corridor Naruto was passed out on a chair Kiba curled up on the floor near by, Akamaru in his jacket hidden from view. Hinata was on the other side of Naruto, awake but barley.

The floor below held Ino slumped against a wall between two guys. In a ward, not to far from the others Shikamaru slept on, none of the ninjas would be surprised to find that he had slept through the whole thing.

There was a slight bump as the hospital settled back in to its original place on earth, the air rushed in to replace the almost oxygen depleted air in the building. Max quickly woke from her meditation trance to help around the building, her crash hadn't lasted long due to the meditation.

A slight nudge from her foot woke up Itachi from his doze. Max kicked him again for good measure though then ran of before he decided she was still hyper.

It was three days later they finally got back to the leaf village and gave in their long and detailed reports. Tsunade had been ready to send out a search party. They still had the holidays left, Max wondered what she should do about the harry potter series, she had read all but the last book and couldn't remember what happened in the 6th, Laura had properly read the last one.

Two days later a messenger came through asking for assistance in a police case based in Japan.

--

please review


	23. Laura's investigation begins

Yes the crossover is with Death note but Lauras on her own, she hasnt been mentioned much so I gave her her own chapter. Some of the others may come over but this is Laura's mission, kind of like Laura FIN.

I don't know the grades in America as i live in England but i'm 16 so i **think** it would be like 11th grade after doing some research.

First day of official school for me tomorrow. I'm so glad i have a free period first.

--

Laura stepped through the gate feeling uneasy, this time she was on her own. Max would be checking in, in one or two weeks, to make sure she was ok.

Apparently some one had heard about her record of solving crimes other than a client and they wanted her to help catch a mass murderer known as Kira. She would be working with another detective who went by the name of 'L'. After a quick discussion with Max, she had decided to take and alias as well.

She would be known as 'Yuri' in honor of the woman who was like Max and Laura's surrogate mother, when they weren't being annoying. She planed on staying in a hotel and not revealing her face, Max had given her the lowdown on the case but advised her to be careful when dealing with 'L' or Light. She hadn't told her who Kira was though, it would ruin the game.

The flight to Japan was annoying, she had a child constantly kicking her chair and the adults acted like he was the best thing since duct tape. Two hours into the flight, she had turned around and practically bit the heads of the family behind her. They had left her alone after that. She had had practiced on scaring ninjas so an overweight father and son with a boney horse faced woman stood no chance.

Then it hit Laura who was sitting behind her, the Dursley's. She smirked it was a shame she couldn't use magic outside school. It's when she noticed Harry sitting next to them she began to worry. Shouldn't he have been with Sirius? She turned around and looked between the chairs, he looked skinnier than usual but more muscle, probably from loads of work. He had signs of old bruises and winced every time he moved in his seat. She turned back so not to strain her neck.

If the Dursley's didn't like him then why was he on the airplane with them? Then it hit her. Things seemed to be hitting her a lot.

"Dumbledore" she seethed, the old man was so going to pay for this. Dudley had also started to kick her chair again, she wished she had some weapon on her to threaten him with but then she smirked again, she had her wand on her. She turned in her chair so she was leaning over the back and withdrew her wand from its place up her sleeve and pointed it under one of his many chins.

"If you do not stop kicking my chair you will end up with more than just a pig's tail" she growled.

"You're one of those freaks that took the boy away two years ago" snarled Vernon in recognition.

"So what if I am, I could hex you and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it" Laura said poking the wand a little deeper into Dudley's neck. Any deeper and she might have lost it in the flab.

"Especially if its not removable like a tail" grinned Laura maliciously. Dudley gulped loudly and backed down, Vernon did the same when she pointed the wand at him. She turned to Harry who looked surprised.

"So why do you have bruises on your face" she asked bluntly. The Dursley's panicked a bit, they couldn't see the bruises as they had faded. Laura how ever was too observant for that.

"I fell" was his short answer. Laura stared at him unblinking. Did he really think she was that stupid? Kakashi's excuses were more believable.

"Ok, we seem to have a small problem, I don't believe you unless you mean you fell onto some ones fist, remember this Max is a better liar than you and I still can catch her out sometimes, you have no chance" she said calmly and slowly.

"I fell" Harry insisted. Laura was getting annoyed now.

"You have a fist shaped bruise on the left side of your face. that is not falling"

"Sirius hit me" Harry whispered as if he didn't believe it, Laura didn't, this had Dumbledore written all over it.

"Sit next to me and tell me the whole story" Laura's tone didn't give him a choice. He came and sat in the empty seat next to her while she put her wand back up her sleeve.

"He came home from a meeting with Dumbledore about getting a job like DADA professor. He acts normal but as soon as I ask how the meeting was he flips, starts blaming me for everything, he punches me in the face" Harry said before breaking down into tears. Laura rolled her eyes and gave him a sharp jab in the ribs.

"Harry you are a Gryffindor, prove it and stop acting like a pansy, what happened after he hit you?"

"Dumbledore turned up just as Sirius was about to hit me again and put the body bind on him, he then suggested letting Sirius deal with his problems by getting out of his hair, the stint in Azkaban probably had made him unstable and that the only other place would be with the Dursley's." he paused in his story to catch his breath as he had been rambling

"Tell my you didn't pick Dursley's, you could have suggested going to Draco's for the holidays"

"I think he then offered me a lemon sherbet to help me think over my options, I must have chosen the Dursley's because next thing I know is I'm outside their door"

"I bet you the first week of homework that he put something in those lemon drops, and I bet you the second week of homework that he did something to Sirius to make him act that way. Oh wait he did, he sent the innocent man to prison but he probably gave him a tainted lemon sherbet" Dumbledore would be begging to die one Laura was finished with him. His manipulations were going to be the death of one of her friends and she was going to stop him before that happened.

The plane touched down mid afternoon Tokyo time Laura got her bags quickly and waited by the exit, she planned on kidnapping Harry, she would have to take him with her to the hotel but he would be out of Dumbledore's influence which was he main goal.

The Dursley's walked out with harry trailing behind carrying most of the cases, she walked dup behind him and taped him on the shoulder, with a finger over her lips to indicate silence she pointed toward a different car park. Harry nodded and dumped all but his bag and followed her to where a limo was waiting.

After a brief discussion with the driver Laura motioned for Harry to get in. they were driven down a few streets and after about half an hour they stopped outside a hotel.

"You didn't have to do this you know" harry said as he saw the hotel.

"I don't let my friends get used like pawns, this is for your safety. I have a job so I may not see you much but you will have freedom to move around the city, your room will be next to mine if you need anything" said Laura as she took her bags in and checked them both in, Laura knew that her room would be next to the room L would be in so they could work together if they needed to. Most of the time they would be talking over the laptops to keep their identities secret.

Laura's picture was a line drawing of a lily. She had bounced the link over several satellites to keep her computer anonymous as well as using a voice scrambler of her own design. A gothic style L came up on her screen and she knew her signature lily was on the other end.

"L, I have been told to assist you in your investigation"

"Yuri, the famous detective broke the drug trafficking ring? And caught the serial killer of west London" Laura smiled at the memories, during the years at Hogwarts she had been doing her own investigations and cracked two of the hardest cases she could find and numerous others.

"Yes, I specialize in profiling and forensics, but that doesn't mean I'm not good at anything else"

"I shall keep you informed of my progress"

"Even if you don't, I will still know what you're up to" Laura said cryptically before signing off. She lay back in her chair she would defiantly have to be careful, no one was supposed to know about how she busted the drug trafficking so obviously L was well informed, but then again so was she.

Max was the anime lover and book reader of the two who slept through lessons while Laura was the one who always got A's and A stars. And then there was Louise who was just strange. But Max had read Death note so knew pretty much anything needed.

There was a knock at her door scaring Laura a little, she tilted the screen forward so it couldn't be read accidentally. On the other side of the door stood Harry, he looked a bit nervous and the fact Laura was looking at him like he had interrupted something important didn't help.

"Are you going to come in or stand there like a pansy" she asked as she turned back to go towards her laptop. Harry walked in and closed the door.

"What do you want?"

"I was kinda wondering, why are you here, I thought you went home. And where are the others"

"I'm here on my own because the others aren't needed. The reason I'm here at all is my business. If you go back to Hogwarts the others may or may not be there. I suppose I should explain everything, you deserve to know. Me and max would have told you before but we didn't have the chance with the stuff that was happening and Max forgetting things" Laura then proceeded to tell him everything, well everything concerning the books that wouldn't be directly from the books like who died and everything. Laura then turned back to her laptop to get some work done.

Max and Laura planed on letting Dumbledore die but not Sirius. In fact the planed on majorly messing with the story line after the fourth book. Harry looked shocked, he didn't know what other emotion he should be, angry, sad, upset. One thing was he was tempted not to return to Hogwarts, that's when he remembered what Laura had said earlier 'IF you go back to Hogwarts'.

"What would you say if I said I didn't want to go back to Hogwarts?" asked Harry timidly.

"It's about damn time" grinned Laura. She went over to one of her bags and took out a few sheets of paper and handed them over to him.

"These are other magical schools, all of them would be willing to let you transfer, and I also have a contract signed by Dumbledore allowing you to transfer" she said as she started to type again.

"I'll bet he didn't realize what he was signing" he smirked, Laura smiled this was more like the Harry she knew.

"Do you really think he would have signed it?"

"Nope, out of interest how did you do it?"

"The ninja contract, I slipped it in between two pages and told Dumbledore it was the same as last years, the dumb man didn't think to check or realize there was an extra page"

"Is there a school you would recommend?"

"I would recommend one that is English speaking unless you can pick up languages easily, I would also recommend against the French or Bulgarian ones as Dumbledore has close ties to some of them, the Japanese one looks good and so does the Swiss one, they both are very secretive and have high standards, the Kanto Institute of Magic and Zürich International School of the Magical Arts are the best, if I hadn't been contracted to Hogwarts I would have gone to one of those. They have a wider curriculum and a less biased view on the types of magic, they also have an option of boarding or day school" said Laura without looking up from her screen. There was silence as Harry sifted through the papers. The main source of noise was Laura's laptop as she typed away.

"Could I go see the Zürich one and Kanto one" asked Harry half an hour later.

"I could arrange it"

"Thanks Laura, for everything" said Harry as he went back to his own room. Laura smiled as she typed. She would tell Draco and ask him about transferring; she didn't want to split the friends up.

Three days later was Laura's next talk to L and her introduction to the NPA (National police agency) as someone else who would be working on the case. Laura didn't have a go between person so piggybacked on L's go between man until Max got there. She actually enjoyed talking to L the intellect he showed was much higher than what she normally had to deal with and was refreshing change.

A week passed and the case was going no where fast. Laura growled frustrated at her laptop, in a way she wished Max had told her how they were being killed but part of her wanted to do it herself. She had organised a trip to the two suggested schools over the next two days so harry could see them, she was glad he had asked instead of going in head first. At the moment Harry was shopping for decent clothes, Laura was wondering if it had been a good idea.

Laura almost hit the ceiling when her door slammed open, she automatically pointed a pistol at the door.

"When did you get that thing?" asked a familiar voice.

--

who is the voice? truthfully... i dont know i havent written the next chapter yet.

ideas for crossovers have been taken into consideration but i wont tell which ones i'm going to use to keep it a suprise.

I am still taking ideas though.

I like some stories where Harry goes to a different school but i made it so its earlier than normal, feel free to vote on which school he goes too.

Don't forget to reveiw in general. I like reviews they make up for all the bad comments about my bad handwriting I get from teachers


	24. Max and the Task force

Sorry for the late update (by my normal standard) homework aparently needs to be done on time escpecially when i'm doing A-levels, only two years till university and i have no idea on which course to chose.

My teachers arent too bad but they have high standards and expect to be able to read everyones writing. I'm doomed.

It' will probably be a week between updates as my free periods (labled 'Research' on my timetable) are at crappy times or being used for something like seminar or enrichment. I chose creative writing for enrichment, not that I need it its just so i can effectivly sleep through the period. yay awesome dos lesson.

--

Laura turned to the door to see Max leaning on the door frame arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Could you be more dramatic?" asked Laura sarcastically. Max stood up straight and walked into the room closing the door behind her.

"Yes, so how's your investigation going?"

"Slowly" sighed Laura leaning back from her laptop hearing her back click a few times.

"Any leads"

"No, the FBI agents were killed yesterday, Kira got to them" Max nodded, she now knew the place in the series it was.

"I hear you finally got Harry away from Dumbledore's manipulative thumb"

"Yup"

"Anything you need me to do?" asked Max yawning, jet lag was a pain.

"No but you've just volunteered to take Harry around two schools" Laura knew Max wasn't paying attention passed the first word and had recorded it anyway so she couldn't back out of it.

"Yea fine, I'm going to sleep, you would not believe the last time I had a good night sleep" Said Max yawning again as she headed to the second bedroom in the suite and dumping her bag on the floor flopping onto the bed. In two weeks she would be swapping with someone else she just didn't see why she had the first shift.

She had just come back from a week long mission and it had been into to a non friendly place. She had been attacked every time the sun went down, she was now more paranoid than ever.

To say Max wasn't pleased the next morning was like saying having more than one limb cut of is just a flesh wound. She did it in the end but not without protest. As usual she ended up translating but luckily for her Harry picked up languages really fast so for the second half of both days she didn't have to do much.

After the two days Max had a new job, she would be Laura's contact with the task force. The only reason she had agreed was to piss off Light, she wasn't sure if a Henge would work so she had gotten a face mask similar to Kakashi's under her Henge, some sunglasses, and a black beanie that were visible. She would have a Henge just in case, more than just the one for her ears she had layered them. She didn't look so different, just her hair colour some facial proportions and height. She was now the average height of a 16 year old and had ice blue hair with dark blue streaks but with the beanie only the tips showed.

Max watched the door open and she immediately started to look around with a slight gleam of paranoia in her eyes. Her eyes landed on L and her mind came up with two words 'sooo adorable'.

"Who are you" asked one of the people in the room.

"I'm Yuri's representative, you may call me Psi" Max had chosen this for no particular reason other than it was a Greek letter.

"Do you have proof?" asked who Max thought was Lights father.

"What would you take as proof, you could ask Yuri"

"No that will not be necessary, I knew you were coming" said L from his place on a chair.

"Lemme guess, you didn't bother to tell the rest of your team" said Max as she walked over to the nearest couch and sat down sprawling across most of it.

"So what exactly are we doing?"

"Trying to link the murders to a person or a pattern"

"Ok when I say 'what exactly are we doing?' I meant tell me more than just the general basics" said Max leaning forward.

The next week showed a lot of improvement in team work with the task force. Max was the root of that, she would get bored and suggest a team building game, claiming it would help people work more efficiently. Max in effect became the younger sister of the group

Then Light came along, most of it got shot to pieces, everyone noticed the fact Max didn't like him, but they just assumed she was being childish. She was the youngest one there, even in her Henge.

Max had more than one reason to be alert around him. She could see Ryuk.

She had no idea how or why, but she could see him. Maybe it was because of her many brushes with death and the time she had died but been resuscitated. That had been embarrassing; she had been choking on a pea. You couldn't do the missions she had done and not danced with Death a few times, they were practically on first name terms. The next couple of times she had been near death, he hadn't shut up about dying because of a pea.

Apparently Death was the Shingami King.

Currently Max was amusing herself by flicking bits of paper at Light, seeing how many bits would stay in his hair before he noticed.

The count was 15 pieces,

"Psi, what are you doing?" Max's head shot up as she tried to look innocent. Lights father was looking at her disapprovingly.

"Nothing"

"So find something to do, you aren't here to laze around" he comanded

"Ok" Max said cheerful as she tore out a page and started making more little bits to flick. She changed her target though, now they were getting flicked at L, he was further away so a harder target.

"Psi"

"No" said Max cautiously.

"Can you stop flicking pieces of paper at my head?"

"Sure" Max continued to flick them at his head.

"Psi, why are you still flicking them at my head?"

"You asked could I. I CAN but don't HAVE to"

"Psi, stop flicking paper at me"

"Ok" Max went back to flicking paper at Light, he didn't complain at least.

"Psi"

"That's my name"

"Stop flicking paper at people"

"FINE, jeez people" Max then went over to a window and opened it and started flicking them across the street to windowsills on the other side. Every time someone looked at the window she would hide. Most of the time they would look at the next window across which Light was by.

"Psi?" asked Light from his desk.

"For the sake of monkey cheese! What now?" Max snapped

"Monkey cheese?" came from the other side of the room.

"Would you prefer I used a profanity?" Max asked sarcastically.

"Why don't you do work"

"No one gave me work, it seems looking stupid gets you out of having to do stuff"

"Then you can run errands for me" he said triumphantly, this would teach her to flick paper into his hair.

"No, I don't run errands for people who I don't directly work for" she returned 'or people who murder the easy way' remained unsaid. Max didn't like the idea of murdering using a notebook. It's a shame she had gotten there so late or she would have stolen it. An idea came into her head, she would steal Misa's if she had to but this way she could get rid of another problem.

There's a saying, speak of the devil and he will appear. Two days later the videos were sent in to Sakura TV, Misa was starting to try to contact Light. Max was glad the pink haired Medic Nin hadn't heard of it or they would never get her to shut up.

Max's two weeks were almost up so unless she decided to stay she would be swapped with someone.

She wanted to stay and save L, she wrote a letter to Tsunade asking to extend her mission. The reply she got was short.

_No more strays._

_You have two months then you need to report to the bumblebee's castle, you have been hired as security for a competition._

_Tsunade_

Laura had laughed for a long time after that, she could have sworn Max was magnetic to people. Harry had decided on going to the Kanto school so would be there for the rest of the holidays making sure he would be on the same level as his year.

By the time the third film and the diary entry were sent Max had a plan, there was only one point when she knew where Misa's death note would be. So naturally she planed on stealing it from right under their noses.

The plan was simple, so simple even Naruto could do it and not muck it up. Well he probably could if he really tried.

"Psi, you will go with Light to the shopping district" said L from his computer

"If I go like this I will attract a load of attention if the second Kira's there I don't want that attention"

"Yeah she wouldn't blend in" added Light. There was a gasp behind them.

"Did Psi and Light just agree on something?"

"No, he agreed with me, I didn't agree with him, but since he, wants to get rid of me so easily I will go, I will look different but I will be there" smirked Max, try to get out of this one Light she thought.

"I will need to know what you look like when you're there" said L

"That won't be a problem"

On the day specified in the diary they went to the shopping district, Max had henged into a short obese girl who had a chocolate bar in her hand most of the time. She may get ridiculed but no one would recognise her. Misa wasn't the only one who could look completely different. She sat at a restaurant just down the road in the ideal position to see Misa and Light as he passed.

If she had known where the Death note had been then it wouldn't have been there anymore. But as it was she didn't, she had to let this part go through. She did send a warning.

When Light was out of sight of Misa she acted.

She had made a shadow clone subtly and henged it into a cute little girl. She made it walk up to Light.

"Excuse me, can you help me, I'm lost" it said, Light couldn't help but crouch to her level.

"Where do you need to be?"

"Down the road but I got told to pass on a message" Light frowned, was this from the second Kira.

"What's the message?" he asked charmingly acting the good guy.

"If L dies so do you even if you don't kill him you will still die" Lights expression had frozen.

"Who told you this?" he asked trying hard to maintain his cool façade.

"I don't know, his face was covered, he was wearing really neat clothes, he also said don't even try to kill him, what does he mean by killing and dying, what are they" Max's acting was on par, she had the naivety down to a Tee. She was a bit startled when Light grabbed her clones arm.

"Let go of me" her clone shrieked loudly. Light recoiled as if he had been burnt. The clone's eyes were wide and brimming with tears. She was immediately surrounded by Light's friends cooing over her.

Max created another shadow clone like a typical mother and made it come rushing down the road.

"Sakura, Sakura, where have you run off to" the mother clone called. Max shamed her mind for only coming up with 'Sakura' as a Japanese name at such short notice.

"Um, is this your child?" asked one of Light's friends moving out the way to show Max's child clone.

"Sakura, don't run off like that, its dangerous" poured the mother clone checking that the child wasn't hurt. With a grateful nod to the group Max's mother clone lead the small one away. Max was observing Light and his reaction.

By the looks of it, Light thought L had done that to unnerve him. Even better, no one suspected her for the little charade. Her mentor would have been proud of her. Yuri had taught her how to use her imagination to help her using clones and acting. She remembered the first day of that training.

_Flashback_

_It was a month after they had passed the Genin test._

_Max was sitting in a tree trying to juggle with stones. Itachi was sitting under a tree reading a book nearby. He had originally been under the tree she had been in, but Max wasn't that good at juggling and had dropped some of them on him. After the fifth time he had just moved._

_Hana was late but it was Tuesday, it was her turn to feed the dogs at her compound so she was always late. Something caught Max's eye and she looked towards it, somehow managing to knock the stones at Itachi._

_In the tree line peering from behind a tree was a little girl. The girl noticed Max looking at her and 'eep'ed hiding quickly behind a tree. She looked at Itachi who mouthed 'you do it; your better with kids' Max figured she was going to regret this later but she jumped down. _

"_Uh, hi?" Max asked tensely, she was not sure what to do with a lost kid. She heard another 'eep' behind the tree._

"_I'm not going to hurt you I promise" said Max in a gentle voice. She walked slowly over to the tree. She peered behind it only to find no one, alarmed she looked wildly around and saw Yuri seconds from attacking her. She turned out of the way so the attack missed her by inches. Max got ready to do her counter attack. It was purely taijutsu for the moment so Max wasn't to badly off after her training with Anko. _

_They ended up going passed Itachi a few times trading punches and kicks, he just ignored them and turned a page. They finally stopped when Max could barley stand._

"_What did you do wrong?"_

"_Trust a small kid"_

"_In a way, but don't forget you're a team, you're supposed to have each others back, not sit back and let them fight on their own" lecture Yuri looking pointedly at Itachi who had figure he was being talked about._

"_You both were fooled by a simple Henge and clone, not even a shadow clone, you can do a lot with them get information, distract people and catch them of guard, the only limit is you imagination"_

_End Flashback_

Max got back to the hotel room the task force were using back in her usual disguise, Light hadn't gotten back yet and she could see the team watching the security videos. Max put a photo in front of L's face.

"This is my disguise I used. Remember it as I'm going to burn it, I don't want it getting out for my safety" Max said. L nodded in understanding. She left it in front of his face at a reasonable distance for ten second then withdrew a lighter and set it alight.

"Did you see anything suspicious?"

"Some girl was talking to herself either that or had multiple personalities or maybe even was hearing voices. Oh and Light scared a small child" reported Max doing her best to be professional and not erupt in laughter.

"Anyone who could potentially be the second or first Kira?"

"Not unless you count the weird girl but she could just be weird" Max said, she couldn't say much more without them suspecting that she knows more than she's letting on. Light entered at this point. He pointed at max and for a second she thought he had found out.

"She wasn't there"

"No, my disguise fooled you" Max figured he wanted to find out her name and get rid of her so like she was going to give him the opportunity. She did like living.

"Can you prove it?"

"I proved it to the leader of this task force the only person I needed to, I don't have to answer to you" Max all but sneered.

"What's up with you, you're acting more hostile to me than usual"

"You upset a child, a small innocent child" Max knew he could say much about it because of the message. Nothing else excused his behaviour. She could feel his glare on her, if it hadn't been so obvious that it would be him if she died then she would have been 6 feet under.

Another reason Max didn't like the Death notes was it made the person rely on it, there were other ways of killing people.

It was two days after the second date in the diary Max put her next plan into action. She had a clone staking out Lights room, using the light bending jutsu to keep invisible. She would have a death note by the end of the day even if she had to tear Lights room apart.

--

Please update, i would like some positive feedback and it wont come from my teachers


	25. Getting a death note, Ok she stole it

Yesterday depressed me.

In chemistry my second lesson with this teacher and we get told were starting coursework we have to do everything, make up the experiment, quantities, concentrations, what i'm finding out etc. and I have about a month. I am so incredibly screwed.

i also have double chemistry following the double maths. I miss one of my lie ins because of personal tutor time and my form group are a bunch of idiots and butt monkeys.

i'm happier now, i got this chapter finished.

--

A clone of Max's waited outside the window with another as back up. Max herself wouldn't be doing the hit, not with two shingami and at least one that would kill her if she endangered the first mark. The second mark's shingami probably couldn't care less. The clones had been henged into stereotypical ninjas with plain faces. A clone sent out to front saw the mark walking up to the door and alerted the others. They got ready for action.

The mark was escorted to the bed room, as soon as the death note was shown, clone one slide the window open and jumped in grabbing the book and jumped out again. the target was in their possession but their mission only part complete. The next part would be harder how to get it into Max's possession without it being suspicious. Max only had a basic plan for this and would have to be spontaneous.

She was walking undisguised across a park with a messenger bag at her side. Truth was she had her mask and beanie hidden under a Henge. She had been given the day off. The ninjas were jumping across buildings but miscalculated a jump landing in the deserted park that Max was walking in. one of them tripped over her due to the fact Max was oblivious. What she didn't know was L had seen the ninjas roof jumping and been following via the cameras.

Max shivered in excitement, as one of the ninjas headed towards her.

"We need to erase any witnesses" said one of the three. As one they piled on at her, only to be deflected by a series of blocks. L was watching this and mildly impressed by the skill those moves had been performed. The fight continued, Max versus the three clones.

She was careful not to hit any fatal blows or they would disappear and look suspicious. The fight didn't stay in one place but it moved around a load Max was glad that the park was empty.

She had noticed the cameras around though. When Max broke one of their legs and the arm of another they decided to leave, they had dropped the book by accident in one of their jumps and Max watched it fall with a curious expression. When it hit the floor she ventured over and picked it up obviously examining it. Shrugging she picked it up and walked off.

Max smirked inwardly. Her plan had worked and she now had a death note in her possession. Next problem, she didn't own it she would have to wait just less than a year to own it as long as she kept it from Misa. Even better though, Light hadn't gotten around to touching it so he couldn't see Rem.

When she was sure that there were no eyes on her she took the note book out of her bag and hid it in her waist band under her Tee-shirt hidden by another Henge. She now had three layers of Henge but with her chakra supply it barley dented it.

Max now had hit a blank in her plan, now what was she supposed to do. Laura was still working with L indirectly. L still didn't even suspect his temporary partner was living next door.

The next day was funny, Light was in a pissed off mood and snapped at everyone, Max wasn't helping matters by flicking more paper at him and only talking to him in German. L didn't mind, in is eyes if Light was Kira and then he would either make a mistake or Max would die. He would be sad about her death but he would catch Kira.

The next day L was planning to arrest Misa, they had finished looking through the evidence and it all pointed to her. Max had gone along as Psi to analyse Light behaviour and piss him off some more.

As Max had hoped the arrest went of without a hitch, and she got some quality taunts in. Bad thing, she was allocated the job of watching Misa's camera.

"Why do I have to watch her?" Max whined, she didn't want to do something boring. She led a high octane lifestyle and liked it she didn't like sitting idle for long periods of time watching a screen.

"Unless you would prefer a guy watched her like a pervert" said L.

"Make Light watch her, they are going out"

"He isn't allowed here anymore unless I say he can"

"Damn, why don't you … um … uh, damn I got nothing" sighed Max as she slouched on the chair in front of the screen. She hadn't realised she had fallen asleep until she was being shaken awake by L. She was never so glad she had gotten rid of her loss of consciousness/Henge failing issue. It was mainly because she normally fell unconscious when she was low on chakra so it wasn't too hard to deal with the problem.

"Psi, you are supposed to be watching the screen not sleeping" lectured L not unkindly; he was crouched on the table between her and the TV eating cake.

"It's so boring though, if Light was here I could at least bug him but no I have to watch some boring video" Max said rolling over onto her side and tried to get comfortable.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

"Do I?" Max said, a million reasons why he had asked this went through her head.

"There is a 7 percent chance you're Kira" that meant he'd tried looking at her back ground. That or she really did talk in her sleep.

"You tried to look into my background didn't you" asked Max. She could hear the shock from the other task force members, she'd hit the right spot.

"My alias 'Psi' doesn't have a background for you to look into, you probably assumed from my accent I could have lived in America and from the fact I speak German I could have lived in Germany, therefore looked for someone under my description from those two countries and the countries that speak those languages dominantly. you can do a lot with a picture of someone, several point on someone's face are over looked by someone disguising themselves with something like a latex mask, I made no such mistake" she said. This was the first time she had shown that she could be intelligent.

"11 percent" said L

"I can prove I wasn't even in this country when the killing began, but that would also mean showing my ID, which ain't going to happen unless I trust someone" Said Max.

"12 percent"

"There's a 38 percent chance you made up that percentage and 45 percent chance your being an asshole right now" said Max in a chirpy voice. She didn't miss the sniggers from the others, she got up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To get something with a ton of caffeine or alcohol, no wait… damn I wish I was 20 then I could get alcohol" Max said before walking out and dramatically slamming the door behind her.

Luck had it on the way to the nearest shop she bumped into Light, he ignored her until he got a proper glance. It was dark so he had to squint a bit to recognise her. Ryuk was looking at her in general.

"Psi?"

"Tis my name" Max answered reflexively.

"I thought you were working"

"I'm taking a break I need fuel in the form of caffeine"

"You're as bad as Ryuuga"

"No. He's worse, now if you don't mind I need to get caffeine, now, so move out of my way" she could have sworn he was doing this on purpose. He kept moving in front of her.

"Dude if you don't get out of my way then you will see what damage a caffeine deprived addict can do"

"How's Misa"

"Now you'd think you would have asked that first, ya know being devoted boyfriend and all" said Max making her American accent more pronounced.

"I was just surprised to see you out of the room, you get out about as much as Ryuuga"

"That shows how little you know, now stop distracting me and move" Max said shoving Light out of the way. There was a drunk comment from a random guy.

"Looks like you pissed of your girlfriend there buddy" he slurred before taking another swig from his bottle, and wrapping an arm around Lights shoulders. Ryuk quietly sniggering.

"How about we go find somewhere quieter" the drunk man offered Light in a drunk kind of seductive way. Max almost fell over laughing so hard. She wasn't the only one, Ryuk's sniggering had gone to full blown laughter.

"Owie … I think I … cracked a rib … or five" Max gasped out before collapsing to the ground in fits of giggles. If Light had known he name she would have died so many times over, one from the glare alone. Light carefully took the arm from around his shoulders and moved it over to a lamppost and Max did almost die when the man started getting cosy with it.

"And that is why you shouldn't drink too much" Max said when she had finally composed herself.

"That guy was defiantly interested in you" Max sniggered

"Shut up"

She then continued down the road to the shops, she noticed Light still walking just behind her. Ryuk still floating over his shoulder.

"Why are you still here?"

"You're young enough to be a target for attackers and rapists"

"If they're anything like that last one then you need protection not me" Max giggled.

"Please don't mention that to anyone"

"Or what? It's too funny to not tell some one"

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"No even if you tried to bribe me something, I would still tell" they had reached the shop and Max was browsing the drinks isle with a basket on hand. She found the Japanese version of Red Bull and piled it into the basket, she could feel the plastic straining to hold it all. Light went to the fruit section and got some apples. At the counter she got some funny looks but she explained she was having a party and the cashiers left it.

Max and Laura had been given an allowance for this mission and Max had other money, she just knew that most of it was going on caffeine stuff. They exited the store and headed back.

"Do you need help carrying that, it looks heavy" offered Light politely, Max snorted.

"You can't come back with me, so stop following me and no the bags are fine" she said lifting one of the bags easily up to her chin to show it didn't strain her.

"But it's dangerous for a young girl to be out alone"

"I will be fine, now leave me alone or I will call the police and say your stalking me" Max threatened wielding a bag in a manner similar to that of a mace. Light finally got the hint and left her alone so Max finished walking back to the hotel. She couldn't walk past the lamppost that was still getting molested by the drunk without giggling. That could have been Light.

Back in the room Max dumped the bags by her seat in front of the Misa watching screen.

"Did you buy half the shop or something" asked one of the guys. Max figured she should learn names but as usual couldn't be bothered.

"No" she said as she flopped down and reached a hand into the closest bag and withdrew a can.

The next morning Watari brought in the paper and gave it to Max.

"Read page five" Max turned to the page and laughed. The title for the article was 'Getting too friendly with a lamppost?' and was about the guy who was molesting the lamppost, it had short circuited and fused flesh to the post. Apparently the guy had been trying to get sexually intimate with it.

"Thought you would need a laugh" in return for the paper Max told them about the meeting with Light. She was glad the task force didn't get in till later.

Three days later Max was still in that seat, watching the camera the only time she had moved were for pee breaks. She reached into the bag only to find it empty. Completely devoid of cans. She tried another bag to get the same results.

"Damn" she exclaimed making the others jump.

"What"

"I ran out of caffeine" Max said mournfully. They looked at the tower behind her, it was one can on top of another in a single tower almost reaching the ceiling. Next to it was the beginnings of a new tower. What was really funny was she hadn't left her seat to build it, she had just tossed it behind her.

"I think you've had enough" said Light's father.

"Well if I wasn't stuck watching this screen then I wouldn't have this problem, so it's L's fault" just that second Misa started her speech of wanting to die. Max could see Rem in the back ground. Max still had the Death note in her waist band, it was the safest place. She caught the last words.

"So you give up ownership of the note book" asked Rem

"Yes" was Misa's final word before becoming unconscious. Max smiled, she was the new owner of the Death note. Rem left the room via a wall no doubt head to where the death note was. With Max. 'Damn' Max thought, she would have to play then next part carefully. If she wanted to stay living she would have to persuade Rem that she wouldn't harm Misa.

"What do you think happened" asked a voice next to Max's ear. This surprised Max so much she fell of the chair.

"Is it entirely possible that you don't sneak up behind me?"

"14 percent"

"I hate you"

"15 percent"

"Fine, I'm leaving. My replacement will be here in a few days. Have a nice day" Max said before leaving. Max didn't have any intention of leaving the case. She just planed on changing her disguise and accent. She left the building and came back as normal going to the room next door to report to Laura.

"I'm stumped; there are no links or clues to the murderer" Said Laura

"I can't prove it without falsely incriminating my self, I got a copy of the murder weapon"

"Give me a clue"

"The weapon isn't human made" Laura's eyes widened

"You have a death note, like the one you were talking about in that chemistry lesson when we were discussing how to murder someone"

"Yup, I actually own one. I stole it then the person gave it up so it now belongs to me"

"This could be a way of defeating Voldemort" smirked Laura, a smile found its way onto Max's face, this wasn't a nice smile, it was an evil smile.

"Oh and by the way, I walked out on the task force, L was being an ass, so tell him to expect someone with the code name Mu" Max said, Laura tutted.

"Obsessed with Greek letters much? Why did you walk out, now i need to create a new profile for you"

"Just be glad I didn't maim him, then you would have had to work on your own for this" Max commented before heading to the bathroom for a long shower. She contemplated her new disguise and came up with the perfect one. She would be going as a guy. After hanging around with her team mates a lot in the past she had gotten the hang of acting like a teenage boy.

She waited three days before going out and coming back henged as a tall boy with really pale, short, spiked up hair and blue eyes. She had her baseball cap that she had used at Hogwarts. She still had the mask under Henge. Rem was following her.

It had been only yesterday Rem had turned up. They had made a deal, Rem wouldn't write down her or L's name down in any death note and Max wouldn't harm Misa physically or emotionally such as excluding her or ignoring her. Light, however, was fair game. Max had asked about L's name not being put down because she may think he was a prat but he didn't deserve to die.

--

Please reveiw


	26. More Greek and a plan

I'm marganily happier today, writing had that effect on me, i just got to typing, i ended up writing the semi ending, but nothing between here and that ending. the reason its a semi ending is there will be a kind of epilouge but unlike in the Harry Potter books it will be an amazing epilouge.

The reason the aliases are greek letters were for two reasons, A: in one of my maths rooms theres a poster of them and i was bored in that lesson and B: L, and the other assosiates of L all use letters. Therefore I decided that Max should.

--

Rem followed Max into the room, Max had told the shingami not to kill the task force members or she would incriminate both Light and Misa. This was mainly a bluff to keep them alive. It would only really incriminate Light.

She had shown her intelligence of the bat, L had quizzed her reasoning ability and she had passed with flying colours but quite a bit less than Psi had. She was put to watching the screen but this time of Light and his father. There wasn't much else to do then so by the time Max finished the day she was bored and tired.

Laura on the other hand had been examining a page from the Death note, doing any test she could think of. Most showed it was just basic paper with trace amount of make up powder but it was originally Misa's so that was explainable.

She had immediately asked Max to pump chakra into it as soon as Max had entered the room. There was some sort of back lash that exhausted her. Max had decided to take the next month off full time work with the task force any way. She would visit the task force but not stay and do work, she was taking on a skiving personality.

The day that Light was released, after Lights father had done his bit was the time Max had decided to walk in for her daily visit.

She couldn't help but make a remark about the fact L and Light were chained together. L's reason was to make sure if Light was going to do something suspicious L would know.

"Kinky" Max said only to get a sour glare from Light. L had just given her a blank look.

"Says the person with a girly alias, Mu sounds like the sound a kitten makes, is that what you are, a kitten" retorted Light.

"So, what does your last name spell backward using English characters, Yagami" Max watched as he spelt it out, then attempted not to turn red, or attack her. Both almost failed, the chain kept him from attacking Max as Mu and his face had turned pink.

"How well do you know Psi?" asked L.

"She's my best friend"

"That explains your humour, it's really similar to hers, and you don't seem to like Light either" explained L.

"I don't Light for my own reasons, he's a pompous ass who primps himself more than a parrot, no wonder some guy was hitting on him" said Max snidely. Light did jump at her with a fist raised, poor L got dragged along. The punch never hit as Max ducked and kicked out at his stomach knocking the wind out of him and catapulting him into the wall behind him, once again L was dragged along.

"Stop acting like children!" shouted Lights father. Max dropped her leg and Light got up and dusted himself down when he had finished regaining his breath. L got up from the spot he had landed.

"Sorry L, I forgot you were attached to the git over there. Why don't we settle this the old fashion way…. who has a video game that's for two players preferable a racing game" suggested Max.

"Mu, we need to get work done, not play video games"

"And that's my cue to leave for the day see ya'll tomorrow, adios oh and Psi might visit Yuri wants her to keep some contact since apparently she's a suspect" said Max as she left for the day. Truth was she wanted to hug L but couldn't do it as a guy. Though Laura had said it just because it would look strange otherwise.

The next time Mu turned up first but was Max's shadow clone, Max was Psi, and it felt good to be acting like a girl again. First thing she did was run and hug L. the momentum had pushed L forward dragging the chain and Light forward. Light had been sitting at a desk facing the backs of them. End result: Light got dragged into the desk in front of him. Psi just ignored it, she had pretty much planed it.

"I heard what Mu did yesterday, he really should have thought more but he is a bit dense sometimes and slow, he just has a bit of an ego" Max jabbered feeling the glare from her clone. L was feeling a bit uncomfortable at being hugged by a girl but quickly got used to it. It was a purely platonic hug, like friends do but L still wasn't used to it.

"I didn't mean to hurt L it was Lights fault he attacked me first" protested Mu.

"If you don't quit talking then I'll attack you, if you hadn't attacked back and just left it then it wouldn't have hurt poor L. Light didn't force you to retaliate" snarled Psi patting L's head. Max felt weird arguing with her self, she could be losing though.

"We might keep you around just to keep Mu in line" said Light, rubbing his stomach which was getting a ton of abuse from the last two days.

"You shouldn't have started it if you ever attack him again I will maim you in a way it will be extremely difficult to recover from, getting molested by a drunk guy will become the least of your worries" Psi seethed with and evil glare though her sunglasses. Max then noticed the cup in front of L.

"Do you want coffee with that sugar?" Psi asked sarcastically. The sugar cubes were piled high in the cup.

"No this is fine, but it will be hard to drink if you still have your arms around me" Light said distantly as if his mind was somewhere else. Psi withdrew her arms and quickly pated his hair before flopping onto a soft chair.

"So what's happened since I left, did Light get molested again?"

"You couldn't just forget that could you" moaned Light. It was embarrassing enough at the time but when the rest of the task force found out was just beyond embarrassment. Light swore to himself, he would find out Psi's name and kill her.

"No, it's about the only teasing material on you I have" Max had realised she would defiantly be 6 foot under if her name was known. She was thinking into over drive, she had just had a brilliant idea. She'd need a third persona but it should work. She was surprised L hadn't though of it but he didn't really have the people who work for him unconditionally as her shadow clones.

"You'll need to stay here until you are cleared of suspicion" said L

"As long as I don't need to get chained to someone, that I refuse out of interest what percentage am I on?"

"26 percent" Max's eye started twitching

"How did you get too 26!"

"You walked out, so you could have been doing Kira stuff in that time" reasoned L.

"At the beginning of this case you said that Kira went to school because the killings were after school hours. I haven't been to school in several months, you said they probably were spoiled, I don't have anyone to spoil me, you said that Kira had a perfect life, mine's far from perfect" protested Psi.

"18 percent"

"I wasn't here that day the twelve agents died I arrived that evening, Yuri can vouch and so can my plane ticket" she continued.

"7 percent"

"The broadcast you did, I was in either America or England, I can't remember when the broadcast was" Psi finished, she couldn't remember any other reasons at the moment.

"3 percent"

"That's all I got" sighed Psi, her plans would have to be put on hold for the moment.

"2 percent, the real Kira would have tried to get completely cleared of suspicion"

"Sure what ever do you have any drink that aren't coffee around here or do I have to buy some more"

"Its only coffee"

"Damn, well I gotta go get some then"

"Take one of the others with you, you aren't allowed to be left on your own" ordered L.

"Fine I pick…that guy" said Max, pointing at Mogi. Mogi nodded and followed her out the door, when they were far enough away Max made two shadow clones, she roughly knew where Light would have hidden the book and sent one to look for it. The other one Max motioned subtly for Rem to follow. They had henged slightly so there weren't three identical people walking around.

The one that Rem went to told her of Max's plan and if it was a good idea. Max's plan was to get a third alias, one that dislikes Psi, and get it to befriend Light at some point Light will come back into possession of a death note. Max will then send a clone as Psi around, if it all goes to plan Light will confront her with Max's third alias, who will tell Psi's 'real name' in other words a fake name, the clone will fake a heart attack.

This itself should incriminate Light, if Max was really lucky she would get some gloating out of Light as well. Mu would have set up a camera up first and shown the task force. Psi would appear and say she broke someone out of jail and persuade her to go along with this and she would make all the charges go away appear again. Light would get arrested and Max wins another one for Yuri. She would let Laura get all the credit. She didn't need it, she sent the clone that had told Rem to go tell Laura the plan afterwards then to kill itself so Max would get the feedback.

"So tall guy, do you want anything, since I'm dragging you out I feel kinda bad" said Max. Mogi shook his head.

"Ok" the trip was relatively short and they were back in no time, Mu had left to report back to Laura. At that moment Max got a flood of information from one of her clones. The clone had been reminded by Rem that Light was attached to L.

Max came up with a simple plan, drug L, and switch Light with a shadow clone. Tada. Problem solved. Laura had said she would tell L she had an idea but had her own people working on it. Also that Mu would be on a rota with a new person under the alias of Zeta since Mu was part of this plan. Max was glad that they wouldn't all be around at the same time, controlling more than one clone at the same time was a bit stressful if it was more than just 'attack'.

They were all around in the room when Laura called.

"I have a plan to uncover the real Kira, but I will have my own people working on it, they understand what they have to do"

"What is this plan?" asked L

"I can't tell you it would ruin the plan since I know others can hear this, it would be for your ears only. Mu will be on a new rota with another of my agents as his abilities will be needed on this mission, the new agent will have the code name Zeta, she will arrive tomorrow" said Yuri, Psi visible drooped.

"What is the chance of success?"

"75 percent any other detail you may ask Zeta for" said Yuri before signing off.

"Why does it have to be Zeta? Yuri knows we don't like each other" Psi moaned, Light looked suspiciously happy. Max didn't know he hadn't given up the death note, he had just told Ryuk not to hang around him any more until he was free of suspicion. At that point though Max got another burst of info as her other clone dispersed.

The other death note was safely next door, she had told Laura not to touch it, and she needed Light to become the owner. Touching it with a clone didn't make her the owner.

The next day came and Zeta turned up, she was in one word stunning, she had this seemingly natural elegance that Psi didn't posses, she didn't walk she floated where as Psi ambled. She looked twenty one and that's the age Max had made her.

"Oh sh.t it's the undead" Psi cried melodramatically before diving behind a couch.

"Shut up Psi"

"Don't look into her eyes you'll turn to stone" warned Psi from behind the couch.

"Psi!!"

"Tis my name, stop using it though, I don't want you making my name sound like it was dragged through mud, it hasn't been anywhere near your hair" Psi insulted. Zeta had a twitch in her eye.

"Psi, shut up"

"If that's the best come back you've got, how come you're on this case?" Zeta had had enough and leapt at Psi who moved out of the way.

"Psi, do you get on with anyone?"

"Only if they don't piss me off" said Psi as she ran from Zeta. She acted slightly confused when Zeta stopped and started staring at Light with a seductive smirk.

"You didn't tell me there was a hottie on this task force"

"That's because: A there isn't, the nearest would be the adorable L, and B, do I tell you anything you want to know?" L had blushed a bit at the adorable bit.

"You're just sour I found out you name before you found out mine" said Zeta in a patronizing voice. Max could almost see the preverbal light bulb light up above Light's head.

"You cheated" accused Psi.

"Do I ever play fair?" asked Zeta with a toss of her hair.

"No you play dirty like the dirty whore you are" said Psi. They were interrupted by a call on the laptop. It was Yuri.

"L, I need to talk to you privately right now as in no one must listen in" came the urgent scrambled voice. L ushered the others out and attached Light to a bed post. Zeta sat next to him to give him the opportunity to fall into their trap. And fall did he do.

"How would you like to be rid of Psi Forever?" offered Light quietly.

"I would love it, even a day without that pesky brat is like a god send" answered Zeta equally quiet. Psi was lying on the floor on the other side of the room counting ceiling tiles.

"Could you go to the park and under the third bush from the north entrance buried is a black note book, can you get it to me"

"Even better I can get you out of here, I have many connections, I could easily get someone who looks exactly like you and switch you two over then you could get it" smirked Zeta. Light thought he had hit the jackpot.

Mean while in the other room Yuri was talking to L

"So are you sure this will work?" asked L

"As I said before there is a 75 percent chance it will work"

"How sure of the suspect are you?"

"98 percent"

"Will that not result in the person dying?"

"I've already thought of that, my agents know the risks involved" Laura finished and signed off. L then let the others back in and cuffed himself to Light again.

"I'm amazed the rooms still in one piece" commented L.

"I had better things to do than insult some one with the IQ of a shrivelled peanut"

"You were counting ceiling tiles" said one of the task force members said.

"As I said, a much better use of my time" said Psi ignoring the glare from Zeta who was sitting very close to Light, Max was just glad she had explained this to Rem. And that Misa was still stuck in her room or out doing modelling most of the time.

Later that night when the task force had gone home Max got up to get a can of drink, this time she had put them in the fridge.

"Does anyone want a drink?"

"Do you have any alcohol?" asked Zeta. Max gave her a sour look, Zeta like rubbing in the fact Psi couldn't drink.

"Coffee" asked L who was engrossed in his screen. Psi looked at Light with a look that said 'if you even think of asking me for a drink it will be poisoned'.

"I'm fine" said Light getting the hint. Max nodded and headed to the kitchen she came out a couple of minutes later only to bump into Zeta who had been heading for the kitchen, thats when the drink was spiked. Max set the coffee and a bowl of sugar cubes in front of L.

Twenty minutes L was out like a light. Psi had gone to one of the spare bedrooms to sleep almost ten minutes ago. Zeta took out her phone and had a quick conversation in German so Light wouldn't understand. Another ten minutes passed and Max's shadow clone walked in with a bag.

"Is this they guy" asked the clone pointing at Light, Zeta nodded. The clone headed to the bathroom and five minutes later emerged looking identical to Light.

"I need you to talk so I can mimic your accent" said the clone.

"Uh, I like crisp's, I'm a straight a student, Psi is a childish brat"

"Ok that's enough, from just looking at you I can assume your personality, so your good to go Zeta" said the clone perfectly imitating Lights voice.

"Thanks Nu I owe you one" Zeta said as Nu unlocked the handcuff and swapped Lights wrist for his own. Nu then gave the bag to Zeta and handed Light a hoodies to hide from the cameras with.

--

Tis almost the end of the Death note arc,

Who wins, who dies? Will Max's plan work or will Light win in the end?

Reveiw please


	27. Finished the case and listen to the moon

I had my first enrichment lesson, it was soo cool, we were doing very short stories, as in six words long, most of my classes were funny or witty. My class officially rocks, except one of them who is very strange and we avoid him. one of my stories was 'Found dream man. Woke up. Damn!' my class found i really funny, the thing is its pretty much story of my life, well love life and a non existant one at that. most of them were morbid like one of my friends one 'Accident: no survivours. Underwear ruined' i dont own the last one just so my friend doesnt kill me.

Anyway heres the chapter, the great thing is i can work on my story during enrichment once a week. Oh and just so you know, i've only read up to book seven in Death Note which is like chapter 61. I cried when I read it but i wont say what happened for those who dont know because it would ruin it.

--

Zeta and Light were sitting in the park. Light had successfully gotten the death note that Max's clone had put back earlier.

"So you understand what you need to do" asked Light.

"Yes, you have no idea how long I have been waiting for this" smirked Zeta, she took out her phone and called Psi's phone. It picked up after two rings.

"Psi's phone" answered Psi sounding groggy. Max made a mental note, if she got out of this dimension them become an actress or athlete, she had a chance at both.

"Psi, you've got to help me, there's some guy following me he keeps leering at me, he reminds me of a gorilla, I don't think i would be able to out run him, I'm at the park" said Zeta worriedly.

"So knee him in the nuts" answered Psi.

"Please. I'm really scared I don't want to be attacked" said Zeta almost hysterically.

"If I find this is a joke I will shave your head bald" threatened Psi hanging up. She created a clone to get her surveillance equipment and sent it to set the stuff up. She created a clone of herself and sent it to the park as Psi.

It turned up at the park ten minutes later she guessed Light was hiding as it was just Zeta sitting on the bench.

"So where's this guy" asked Psi yawning, she looked really tired and hadn't put on her normal beanie or glasses her face looked slightly different backing up the whole facial dimensions changing theory. Her hair was still blue though so Zeta and Light could tell it was her, no one else had that colour hair. Max was recording the whole thing.

"You really believed me" sneered Zeta. Light came from behind a bush holding a book and a pen. Psi blinked a few times in confusion.

"Zeta so kindly told me your name, now you're going to die, for I am Kira, this book when I write down your name will cause you to have a heart attack" gloated Light, Max smirked, Psi looked worried and turned to Zeta.

"You would kill me, I didn't think you ever would have the nerve" said Psi her voice wavering. Light wrote down the name he had been given and held the wrist with the watch on and started counting down. Psi looked at Zeta with a look of betrayal.

"So less than 40 seconds to live Psi, not so lippy now" revelled Zeta. Light's countdown reached zero and Psi convulsed clutching at her heart then went still. Zeta went over and knelt by Psi to check for pulse and found none.

"She's dead" Zeta announced.

"So now I have shown you my power as Kira will you support me and my new world" he didn't get his answer as everything went black for him. Behind him Max stood as Mu, her arm raised behind where Light neck had been.

"And that's a wrap" he said walking over to the camera ready to switch it off

"Good job Zeta" he said.

"Is Psi really gone?" Zeta asked looking at Psi's body.

"Yes, she knew the risks though, she always lived life to the fullest so that when she died she wouldn't regret anything" said Mu then he turned the camera off taking the tape out. Max then made Zeta and Psi disappear. She saw a random shopping cart abandoned near by and after checking him to see id he had hidden any pieces of the death note, she dumped Light in it before pushing it back to the hotel, L should have awoken by now.

She entered the room to see a confused L look at her and the person in the cart and the person attached to him.

"The plan is complete, we have evidence that Light is Kira, the person who's attached to you is Nu, he's a disguise expert, he can become anyone" at this the fake Light took of his 'mask' to show a different face.

"Zeta's reporting to Yuri"

"And Psi?"

"Watch the video" said Mu sadly. Light took the tape in Mu's hand and put it into the video player and watched the whole thing. By then end Mu could see a tear in L's eye.

"She gave her life to this case, she died to uncover Kira" said Mu. L nodded he uploaded the video to his computer and sent it to the police department. By tomorrow Light would be wanted as Kira. And they had Light so that was much easier.

"I feel sorry for Light's father, how's he going to feel when he was searching for kira and finds out it was his own son, and his mother and sister finding out Light was Kira" said Mu slumping on a couch.

"Where is Psi's body?"

"Zeta took it to Yuri's place where Yuri will get it buried after seeing if there were any similarities with the other mysterious heart attack victims"

"Was this whole thing a set up from the beginning, to find the killer in the task force or did you really only make up the plan yesterday" asked L curiously.

"With Yuri who knows, I got told to stay here to make sure Light didn't escape custody, though we suspected it was some supernatural way of killing, its one of Yuri's specialities" commented Mu.

"Where's the book he wrote in" L asked, Mu took it from a pocket. It was in a sealed evidence bag.

"We need it for evidence so I kept it on me, I haven't touched it with skin just gloves to keep my fingerprints of it" Max's clones didn't have fingerprints.

"This doesn't explain the other Kira, Maybe there's another book though" said L.

"If there is one, I'll find it and destroy it, I don't want to have to see more friends die"

"Who do you think it was? The second Kira I mean?"

"I think that Light may have manipulated Misa to try to take the heat of him, you can see how easily lead Misa is" theorised Mu. It was complete bull, but it was a theory. An icon flickered on L's screen. L quickly opened the screen and read it before minimizing it.

"The police are on their way"

"Good" they heard a moan from the cart and saw Light waking up.

"What happened? Why am I in a shopping cart?"

"If it wasn't for the evidence I have it would look like you got pissed" observed Mu.

"What evidence?" Light panicked. Mu held up the evidence bag.

"We also have video evidence" said L. Light attempted to get out of the cart but due to inexperience in the matter he failed.

"You see the shopping cart is an effective way to keep someone occupied who hasn't had experience getting out of one" said Mu conversationally. Another incoming call bleeped on L's laptop. L clicked on it and the Lily drawing came up.

"I've been informed that the mission was a success, Psi will be missed but she has saved countless lives, Mu you will report back as soon as Light is taken into custody. L, it was nice working with you, I wish you luck in future cases and Light, you deserve any punishment given to you" was the scrambled message.

"I also wish you luck in you future cases" returned L. They both signed off. Max had heard the underlying message, she didn't need to report in but someone wanted to talk to her as soon as she could get back.

The police turned up not long later, there had been some raised eyebrows at the method of confinement but they had to admit it was affective. They had assured L and Mu that Light would not escape and L should keep the note book for safe keeping, that way if Light escaped he would have to track down L to find it.

Max headed out, to get to look normal to return back to normal. She headed back to Laura's suite a little after 2 in the morning. Laura as usual was sat by the laptop.

"Meh, I'm dead tired, my mind feels like mush, controlling more than one clone over time gets really tiring and my beds going to be freezing" moaned Max. She went over to the couch and flopped down, she was asleep within seconds.

The morning woke Max up with bird chirping outside the window, Max groaned and rolled over to the warmth next to her. Laura walked out of her room to wake Max up when she saw a cute sight.

Last night just after Max fell asleep Itachi had turned up, he was there to make sure Max remembered the mission and didn't try to skip out on it. He had seen Max shivering on the couch and put a blanket on her. Max had grabbed his arm and snuggled up to it, so Itachi ended up sleeping on the couch too.

After taking a few photos for black mail Laura decided she should wake them up. Question was, how? Laura smiled as a plan came to mind, she started poking Max's back, which was so close to the edge of the couch. Max rolled over to swat the thing poking her only to fall off. Now Max had been tangled up in the blanket and at some point so had Itachi, so he fell onto the floor too. On top of her. In a very amusing position in Laura's eyes.

"I think I saw that position in Kakashi's book" noted Laura aloud. Max's eyes shot open followed slightly slower by Itachi's they tired to scramble apart but the tangled blanket slowed their progress.

They final got apart and Max headed for the kitchen to get a caffeinated drink, she didn't want to do something stupid while she was still half asleep. Laura was giving Itachi the same talk Max had given Sasuke so long ago after the Quiddich match. The whole, 'you hurt Max and I will make your life a living hell and you know I can'.

Within two days Light had been exposed as Kira, his trial had been short, Mu had been sent as Yuri's representative and the one to explain how the death note worked. Watari was as usual L's representative and before they split ways gave Mu a card, 'just in case'.

The next day Max Laura and Itachi were on their way to England, Harry was settled into his new school and Draco who had also opted to switch schools.

They were due the day after the champions were picked. The other ninjas were already there.

They didn't expect the situation that they came to find. Apparently the French school had dropped out so the ninjas had a chance, the only catch was they had to find a way to get they application in to them it was a slight extra challenge.

Some how Max's name had been called out. She wasn't too pleased when she found out. It went along the lines of:

Max, Laura and Itachi walked into the great hall heading to the Slytherin table when the whole room erupted in cheers.

"And out third contestant arrives, Maxine Hakie representing Konoha" boomed some random person at the teachers table. Max froze dumbstruck.

"What!?" she yelled disbelieving.

"I refuse to take part in this stupid competition" Max declined with a voice that dared them to say other wise. It seemed Dumbledore stepped up to the plate.

"I'm afraid you have to, when you name came out of the goblet you were entered into a magically biding contract" he said jovially. The smile on his face made Max want to get her death note and write every single one of Dumbledore's names and make his death a painful humiliating one.

"I didn't put my name in, I wasn't even in the country, I was in Japan on business" defended Max.

"Maybe one of you team put your name in?" suggested one of the unknown men at the teachers table.

"Every single one of them knew I had no wish to enter this, I wouldn't even be here if I had a choice"

"It's a great honour to take part in this tournament"

"I don't care, I'm not taking part"

"You don't have a choice"

"Who decided that anyone whose name came out would be entered into a contract they hadn't even had a chance to read" sighed Laura.

"Well, I'm out of here, I'm not going to get forced into some contract" announced Max as she flounced out of the room. She headed to the forest, it was probably the nearest she would get to the forbidden forest. Since the very first training lesson with Anko she had trained there in her free time. It was just the natural thing to do.

What she hadn't expected was meeting the centaurs. They were entirely too perceptive and confusing for her liking.

"You aren't from this world" Max knew she was doomed as one of them spoke.

"No"

"You've met the last phoenix lord"

"Who?"

"They call themselves the lord of time" that made sense, the doctor cheated death by regenerating, much like a phoenix was reborn.

"Yes"

"You have a heavy weight on your shoulders and its not going to get lighter any time soon, your future has many paths but few are light, you are similar to him in that way and in the same way you will have to do some of it alone"

"Why me?"

"You are special, touched by the moon, your help is needed by many, so help them, do not hide from you destiny, you will know what you need to do when the time is right. It must be done despite the great losses, despite the personal loss. This world must continue to survive"

"Huh?"

"You will understand when the time is right, you will save the world, the universe many times over but it will come at a price, the price must be paid, or the universe will suffer the fallout"

"I don't understand, even from the jist of it, I don't like the sound of it. Typical, I go from one set of people telling me what to do to another set who are telling me what I will do" Max fumed getting up, she would go sit on the lake, at least then no one would bother her. With any luck.

As she sat on the lake the centaurs word kept coming back to her like a bad dream, it gave her a seriously bad feeling.

"Stupid centaurs, they don't even tell me when the things will happen" grumbled Max from her spot as near to the centre of the lake as she could get.

--

Right so Max is pissed off what will she do now. The universe rest in her hands and she doesnt even know what to do or when she has to save it. In other word the uninverse may be screwed.

Oh and no shadow clones were harmed in the making of this chapter.

Ok I lie, all of them were harmed in some way or another. Reveiw anyway please


	28. The First task and Memory Trouble

Sup people, how I found the time to write this is pretty amazing with all the work i get given. Its probably the reason I havent done any of my homework. Old habits die hard I suppose. I never get homework done on time. not that the teachers are really that suprised, they dont mind as long as it gets done eventually.

this story is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon so will definatly have more chapters than the first part and has already got a higher word count, i have some of the bits mapped out but not all of it.

--

The mission went on the same as the previous three years, the ninjas would go to class and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Max would avoid anything related to the tournament.

She had missed the weighing of the wands and was planning to be ill for the Yule ball and anything else she could miss to annoy people. If she could help it she would have tried to get out of the tasks as well but that was the main magically binding part.

What changed her mind were the papers that had been coming, most calling her a coward, and a person who only entered so someone else could not. After filing a Lawsuit for spreading false rumours, she decided to take part anyway to keep her from dying of boredom.

The day of the first task arrived, since Harry wasn't around only Krum would have known about the dragons, but Max had dropped hints by Diggory about it. If he had any intelligence then he would have figured it out.

Max was sitting in the tent not listening to the explanation, instead she was checking her weapons for easy access. She was the last to pick the dragon, it was the same one Harry had taken on. Seeing as Max hadn't learnt much about taking down a dragon with magic she would have to improvise.

Krum was up first. Diggory tried to strike up a conversation but Max had turned to meditation and didn't hear him, she did break her trance to wish him luck though just as he left the tent. Max was all alone in the tent, Krum was probably getting healed in a different tent. She checked her weapons again just in case.

Finally it was her turn, she stepped into the sunlight and smirked, she waved her wand at her feet saying nothing, in truth her wand wasn't casting a spell it would just be use to explain what she was about to do. Using speeds faster than the eye could see, she ran and grabbed the egg before returning, this was so quick only ninjas noticed she had moved from her spot.

She did a few quick showy stretches then ran, she skidded down the slop to the enclosure before leaping over the fence into the area at not too high speeds, the dragon had noticed her scent but it was too garbled to see where she was.

This wasn't a good thing. The dragon took a deep breath and exhaled a jet of fire. Max reacted instinctively and formed some hand seals for a jutsu, the fire hit her position seconds after she had finished the hand signs. There was a loud gasp from the crowd. The dragon let up and the crowd could see a blob of water swirling in a small sphere.

It dropped to reveal Max standing unharmed. Max shrugged her shoulders and walked back, she had hidden the egg in her pouch so no one could see it. She got back to the starting place.

"You haven't finished your task"

"Oh, well, I don't particularly feel like endangering my life today"

"The goal is a clue for the next task so if you forfeit this task you will be unprepared for it"

"So be it, I don't care, remember" said Max.

"Is there anything I'm supposed to do with this though?" she asked holding out the golden egg.

"That's what you were supposed to get," said the person in charge.

"Oh, right I thought we were supposed to get a real one and this was just a distraction"

As she walked of to the medical tent to be checked off. She noticed Dumbledore's eyes narrow, she wished she knew what he was thinking because she doubted it was good. Inside the tent, Madam Pomfrey cast a diagnosis spell, Max twitched she didn't like spells being cast on her.

"You're a bit low on some vitamins so I need you to take this potion"

"I'm always low on vitamins, I don't need a potion"

"I can't let you leave in anything less than full health" said Dumbledore walking in interrupting them.

"Your score have been announced; you got an overall score of 7 out of a possible 50" Max shrugged and took the vial sniffing it cautiously out of paranoia. She didn't notice a spell being cast at it.

"It could have been worse, but if it gets better I will end up having a chance to win and that would suck"

"Drink up, you'll feel better and may change your mind" said Dumbledore in a kind way. Max took another sniff and was about to run a test on it when Madam Pomfrey interrupted.

"Drink that now, nothings been done to it its perfectly fine," Max glared at her but downed it in one swallow. Then she gagged at the taste.

"This is why I don't take vitamins, they taste like horse vomit"

"And out of interest how would you know what that taste like" inquired Dumbledore.

"Lost a bet" Max grinned, Madam Pomfrey raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"I'm kidding, the smell got into my mouth so I effectively tasted it" explained Max. She got up and left the tent, her head was feeling fuzzy, Laura was asking questions and prodding her to make sure she was fine.

"I'm fine, I have a vitamin booster but that was it"

"Your vitamin levels are fine"

"I know, I had the potion"

"They were before the task and I doubt you lost any during it" Max groaned at this, she could have been poisoned and not known.

"This is why I don't trust hospitals"

The fuzziness was getting worse, Max saw something out of the corner of her eye and saw Dumbledore shoot a spell at Laura, they she only saw black.

Max woke in a hospital bed, some how it felt familiar but she couldn't quite place why. Her head felt fuzzy. She tried to remember what happened.

This was bad; she couldn't remember anything except basic stuff like speech basic maths, science and writing. She had no other memories.

"Sh.t" well she remembered how to swear. She saw a person come over to her looking like a nurse. She lent up on her elbows, some of her movements were jerky.

"How do you feel?"

"Uh, I don't know" the words felt clumsy on her tongue.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"No" the nurse looked at her closely. She seemed to notice something and backed away writing something down.

"Do you know where you are?"

"No"

"I was afraid you'd say that, call me Madam Pomfrey, do you remember anything at all?"

"I remember some things but nothing like my name. Memories, mostly skills though," the words felt foreign and she had trouble with a few of them.

"You seem to have amnesia," Max tilted her head in confusion it rang a bell but she didn't quite know what it was.

"You have memory loss," Max's face was unreadable as she slumped back on her bed.

"I'll be back later to see how you are" then Max was left alone.

"Memory loss, I can't remember a thing, but what if I had something important to remember," Max said, trying to get used to speaking again. She was scared out of her mind when Rem floated in but for some reason she knew not to scream.

"What are you?"

"I'm Rem, remember, death god, used to have Misa's death note but you stole it and caught Kira, the death note that you can kill people by writing a name in it"

"What are you doing here?"

"Checking in, don't you remember, you told me to make sure Light was still in jail"

"I don't remember anything," said Max sadly.

"This is strange; you can still see me so you haven't given up the death note, so what happened"

"I have no idea, all I know is all of my memories are gone"

"This may be a problem" Max raised an eyebrow.

"Lights gone" Rem elaborated, for some reason Max felt panicked she had a flash of something in her mind.

"I remember something, the letter L?" asked Max.

"He's an investigator, you worked with him, he has the other death note that I know is one earth, he hasn't touched it so he doesn't know of the existence of Death gods. But Light hasn't given up the death note so remembers what happened"

"This is bad isn't it?"

"Yes, he seems to be out for the detectives who took him down and one of your aliases named Mu"

"But this 'L' person has his death note"

"You may have lost your memory but your minds still sharp, Lights going to try to track down L to get it back." Max smiled a bit. That was the first bit of good news she could remember. The door opening interrupted her thoughts. Someone who looked like he was older than the dinosaurs walked in. Max had a bad feeling about him her senses were screaming 'Don't trust him'.

"I don't like you" Max blurted out, apparently she had forgotten self-restraint.

"That is a pity, I am the headmaster at this school and as a pupil you should respect me"

"Liking you and respecting you are two different things, and I said 'I didn't like you'. I don't respect you either. Just so you know" Rem was smirking.

"I need you to sign this piece of paper"

"No"

"As your headmaster I am telling you too"

"The fact I can't even remember being enrolled at this school means… No"

"I can't let you have any visitors until you do"

"I don't even know if people will want to visit me, I can't remember if I have friends," Max wasn't stupid and she wasn't going to do something stupid. The glare she got from the old man made her smirk.

"I must insist you sign this" Max didn't miss the tone change.

"You know something, I don't even know if you are the headmaster you just said you were," mused Max. The man took out a stick of wood and pointed it at her. Max didn't sit still long enough to find out what it did.

"What the hell are you doing you crazy old man?"

"Stop moving, this should help you memory"

"Ok that a very bad lie, even I lie better than that and I can't remember me lying you point that wooden stick at me again though and I will snap it into pieces"

The man stormed out knowing that Max wouldn't give.

"You haven't lost that smart-arse streak," commented Rem.

"Can you go see if there is anyone around that could be waiting for me" Rem nodded and left.

"Talking to yourself is a sign of madness," said a voice, Max turned to the window where the voice originated from. Crouched on the window sill was a boy of about 17, he had long hair and a mask covering his face with a dragon design

"Sneaking up on someone is a sure way to give someone a mental break down"

"True, but I thought you would have noticed me ages ago"

"Nope, I was kind of distracted"

"By what?"

"Talking to my self"

"What's wrong with you?" Max couldn't see the boys face but she could tell he was frowning.

"Apart form memory loss, I have no idea"

"You have memory loss. You have no idea who I am, do you?" asked the boy testily

"Nope" Max grinned.

"This is great. You're our team leader and you have no memories; I'm Itachi, your partner. Do you even remember how to speak Japanese?"

"Uh… Maybe? Wait, team leader, I believe I'm what, 15 and I'm team leader, yet you're older than I am. How does that work?"

"We are screwed, Tsunade's going to kill us" mumbled the boy.

"Tsunade's the leader of our village back in Konoha," he added as an after thought.

"I just wish I know how to get my memories back, this is going to annoy me, not knowing things. I just feel like I should know a ton of things but its frustrating not being able to remember"

"Tsunade will hopefully find a way but it will take time for her to get here, she is the top medic Nin"

"Nin?"

"Ninja, it is what we are, our job"

"Oh" Rem came back through the wall.

"Someone out side the door listening in, it's the old man" reported Rem. Max had already guessed that she was the only one who could see Rem.

"Who's the old man?" asked Max.

"The headmaster of this school, Albus Dumbledore, so far you've annoyed him but making him lose control of one of the kids that he wants to control"

"That doesn't surprise me than, the fact he's listening in is even less surprising"

"I need to go and inform Laura anyway, she's your best friend," said the masked boy before he disappeared. Max had a slight flash in her mind and she saw a girl being hit by a beam of light by the old man.

"Rem, Laura's blond right?"

"Yes"

"I'm going to kill the old man"

"We need to discuss catching Light as well"

"Can't I use my own death note to kill him?"

"I don't know where you put it so unless you remember where you hid it then we have to do this some other way"

"Do you have a death note?"

"If I do I'll die," said Rem but she didn't give any more details.

"What did I do last time?" asked Max hopefully.

"I don't completely know you didn't tell anyone the exact details only what they needed to know for it to work" Max's face fell. She had another flash.

"Do you know someone, I think called… Ryuk?"

"How do you know him?"

"I had a scene in my head, maybe it was a memory maybe imagination. I was sitting in a room there were two other people there, a man about 21ish, with brown hair, really neat he looked like he was really smart and he had this 'I'm better than you' look. There was another man, he was sitting on a chair with his knees by his chin he had messy black hair. By the brown haired man was this thing, Ryuk"

"Ryuk is another Death God the one attached to Lights death note light was the brown haired one, L is the black haired one. How can you see Ryuk though? You never touched the other death note"

"I don't know, could you talk to Ryuk, I'd like to meet him" Max's mind was plotting. She would have to wing it most of the time though.

"Oh if he needs to tell Light something then, tell him that Ryuk needs to see the Death God king"

"How do you know we have a king?"

"I guessed, even if you don't Light doesn't know that so it would still work" explained Max. Rem nodded and flew off. Max sighed and slumped back onto her bed. Even with no memories, she was doing work. Madam Pomfrey came into the room.

"How are you feeling dear?"

"Like the old man is going to die if he keeps feeding me bullsh.t stories" said Max bluntly. The nurse was taken aback.

"I'm sure it was for your own good"

"Was trying to get me to sign something when I have no memories to see friends I may or may not have 'for my own good'"

"He did that, you shouldn't have to sign anything and your friends will be able to se you in the morning, I'm keeping you here to make sure there are no other effects. As for your memories, they'll come back at some point in the next few months"

"Months!? I don't have a few months to wander around with no memories," exclaimed Max. She pushed the blankets back. She was glad to see she was wearing proper clothes.

"I'm going to go, adios" Max said before walking out of the door. She had no idea what 'Adios' meant but she assumed it was some sort of goodbye. She didn't pay attention to where she was walking. She let her feet guide her; it seemed to know this place better than her mind now. She ended up out side by the lake. She didn't expect Rem back for a few hours at least and she had no idea what the boy 'Itachi' was doing or 'Laura'.

She looked at the stars only to trigger a series of memories. Different constellations poured into her mind, some from what seemed to be a different world. She remembered someone with red hair and dark circles around his eyes.

"You remember something" Max would have fallen over had she not been lying on the floor. The masked boy was back.

"I remember someone with red hair; do you know who it is?"

"It's probably Gaara; you used to stargaze a lot with him"

"Why do you have a mask?"

"Part of the job, it protects my identity, though for this job it doesn't matter, I just have it because of habit, you have one too, in the shape of a wolf"

"Could I see your face, just in case I remember something" the boy removed his mask. Max saw a short burst of memories seemingly unlocked.

"I remember you having pink hair at some point"

"That was your fault, do you remember me now?"

"I only see pictures and only a few of them, sorry" Max sighed and went back to looking at the stars.

"We used to be team mates when we were younger, you and Hana, our other team mate, used to annoy be for the fun of it. It helped me break away from my clans expectations, they wanted me to be a figurehead, and you two showed me that it wasn't as important as they made it out to be. We made the highest rank younger than anyone else, we made an amazing team"

"I wish I could remember it. My memories may not come back for a few months according to Madam Pomfrey"

"The others will visit, see if you remember them, hopefully it will help" Max nodded and he left.

Max didn't realise she fell asleep, her dreams were plagued with people and events that she knew but didn't quite remember. Some she would rather not have seen, some made her sad, less made her happy.

When she woke, she didn't feel like she knew any more than she had yesterday. When she looked back at the stars, she could tell it had only been two or three hours. She didn't know how she just knew. She sat up only to have a blond child barrel into her hugging her.

"Do you remember me?"

"Hmm, Blond, hyperactive, loves orange and ramen. Nope" Said Max.

"Is that a yes or a no?" asked Naruto pouting confusedly.

"I remember bits, but not full bits about you, you're Naruto right?"

"Yup. You saved me, I was stuck at the orphanage but then you and Laura came along and saved me, you just about adopted me, we're like siblings"

"I did a lot of things, saved many people, killed many others"

"You remember some of it"

"I wish I didn't"

"I know you have bad memories but you must have good ones to even it out"

"What happened for me to betray the village?" Naruto winced a bit, he remember that. He wasn't sure there was a person around who had forgotten it.

"You remember that part? You'd have to ask Sasuke, he knows most of it, you saved him too, he wasn't thinking straight but you knocked some sense into him," Naruto explained. Max felt someone appear behind her.

"And you can ask him now" said Naruto before he disappeared.

"Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

"Why do I associate you with trees?"

"Your fault, you would yell 'tree' then shove me into one," Sasuke explained, Max smiled sheepishly.

"So why did I defect?" she asked offhand.

"You didn't, Orochimaru took you by surprise and kidnapped you, it was after a big battle and he gave you a mind altering seal. they made you a missing nin because they couldn't be sure you were you anymore. You overcame the seal and returned home taking me with you after I had done something stupid"

"That's a relief. So what my story with you?"

"You're my current team mate, along with Naruto"

"Are you related to Itachi?"

"He's my brother" Max nodded.

"Anything else important I need to know" Sasuke shook his head.

"I'll go back to stargazing" Max felt Sasuke leave and relaxed. She had to analyze what she had just found out. Many of them triggered more memories.

By the time morning came, Max had a very sketchy idea of things. She still had a load of gaps in her memories and hoped to fill them but she couldn't remember much about people. She got up ready to find something to eat when she was interrupted.

--

Light's back. I couldnt just leave death note as it was, but this wont follow the story of it.

What will happen to Max, will she get her memories back? if so how? and how will she defeat Light

i actually know some of the answers as the next chapter is already half written. i have no idea about Light though.

please review, a happy author means frequent chapters


	29. Back to Japan to play tennis

Hi, be glad for this update as i managed to do something stupid. i managed to cut my left thumb with a bread knife. it was deep but didnt draw blood, yes i have thick skin on my thumbs. anyway i stoped me from typing for a bit whn combined with another cut on my left index finger, i couldnt stretch it for the day. it really sucked, i could barley do anything because it hurt and would have made the cuts worse, i didnt want that to happen.

There's a mention of another crossover. i'm sure some of you can guess what it is it more obvious than i could have done.

The crossover will be hard to write as i have not actually read the series but i will try my best. if some of the characters are a little off then dont blame me. but most of the crossover will start next chapter.

--

"Laura?" Max asked, it looked like who she thought it was but wasn't sure.

"Hey Max, remember anything?"

"Bits"

"I have an idea to help you get your memories back. it may not get all of them but it should help a lot"

"What do I do?" Max really wanted her memories back.

"Fight Itachi" Max was ready to walk away them, she could tell by how Itachi held himself she would not have a chance without her memories, even with them she wouldn't be sure.

"Before you say 'that's crazy' hear me out. You used to fight him all this time so your body should remember how so you might remember bits. I hope that it will trigger a full memory recall. Just try it, I really want my friend back," said Laura. Max thought about it, what could she lose, her limbs, her head? She shrugged, she'd already lost her memories, and then she nodded.

"When should we start?"

"Now" Laura said before running. Itachi appeared behind her. The first couple of blows were light and Max barley had time to register the blows before her arms started to move to block them. She remained on the defensive for a while, it felt like something was missing.

Something flew at her and she reflexively caught it. It was a scroll. Max remembered what to do as she did a few seals and dripped some blood on it, still blocking Itachi.

The scythe popped out and Max switched to the offensive, her muscles telling her where to move. Itachi was using two kunai and was trying to be offensive but Max pressed on with the scythe. She didn't notice Itachi do a few seals until she saw there were two of him.

"Ok I don't remember you ever doing that"

"It's a standard technique; you used to use it all the time"

"I don't even know what you did," said Max as she started a difficult set of sweeps and slices. Fending of two attacks she jumped back to catch some air, she didn't expect to be kicked into a tree.

"Oh, it's on" Max growled as she got up and dispatched the other clones with a shuriken to the head. She threw her scythe at him with four kunai in the blind spot and three obvious kunai to direct him into the path of the hidden ones. She hadn't expected him to fall for it.

She hadn't expected her aim to be off, nor that one of the kunai would end up embedded in Itachi's stomach. She froze as she saw to blood leaking from the wound. A whole slew of flashback stormed her mind. She fell to her knees at the memories flooded in like a tsunami. Every single memory played in front of her eyes.

It took thirty minutes for her to regain her senses into real life. She got up from where she had fallen and saw Laura looking at her concernedly nearby Itachi sat with white bandages around his stomach.

"Dude, I remember stuff, everything" she tried to get up but fell, her balance was a bit off

"Well it worked, not how I planed it but still," said Laura helping Max up. Max noticed how thick the bandages were on Itachi and the fact blood was still leaking though.

"Sorry about that, you should get it checked though. Just not here, as much as I hate to suggest it, ask Sakura, she is Tsunade's apprentice," Itachi nodded and left.

"You remember what happened?" asked Laura

"You were there afterwards, I had been told I had vitamin deficiency so I got given a potion, I think Dumbledore did something to it. I then walked out side to see you, you said I didn't, I realised then Dumbledore had done something defiantly, then he came out and shot a spell at you, I'm assuming a mild memory charm" theorised Max.

"I'm assume he thought without your memories you would be easier to manipulate"

"He is going down, he's messed around in our affairs too much, I'll ask Tsunade about putting a bounty on his head, and he'll be an enemy of Konoha by the end of the month," grinned Max evilly; no one messes with her head.

"What about the tournament?"

"Screw it, I don't care, wait until the tournament has finished then announce he's and enemy or let one of the others finish it for me. Some business has become unfinished and I need to deal with it, it has a higher priority than participating in a tournament"

"What's up?"

"Light escaped, I have to see he gets behind bars again, it's my responsibility. I didn't kill him so he could have a second chance, it was the wrong choice and I feel responsible"

"Why don't you use your death note?"

"Ah, that a bit complicated, I don't have it. Its part of a different plan, if I move it I may lose a valuable opportunity" said Max, she had a plan to get rid of the Dark lord but she had to wait for a while until he had become a corporeal form again.

"I think we should tell Itachi"

"Tell him what"

"About where we really come from"

"Why?"

"He's the one who asks us to go to this dimension so he needs to know about it"

"When he comes back we'll tell him"

"Tell who what?"

"Well, what you need to understand is… we aren't from here, not this universe but a parallel one. We came here because… this is going to sound strange but … you asked us to, when you're a bit older you go to our universe and ask us to come to this one to save people." Began Max

"In our dimension, most of these things are fiction, the ninja world is fiction the alchemists are fiction. The ninja world is from a book called Naruto, and its how we knew what would happen, we changed the time line a bit but not much"

"When we came here we got put in three year old bodies but retained all our knowledge which is why I excelled and created those techniques" finished Max

"What we have just told you should be considered a secret of the highest class; no one can know or find out" added Laura.

"Out of interest how did you get over your memories, the not so good ones?" asked Itachi, completely unfazed by the information he had just been told.

"Like one of my teachers once said, you have to remember to forget"

"I remember that, the whole class got confused from it," laughed Laura.

"That was so funny, anyway I need to get to Japan within the next few days, do me a favour and cover for me. I'll owe you both"

"Are you sure that's wise, you've only just gotten you memories back"

"When am I not fine?"

"You better come back in one piece, I will still piss on your grave if you get killed before you're twenty" warned Laura.

"Of course. Watch you back and each others, Dumbledore will try again," Said Max and she headed off for the gates. Her stuff was on her, she had stuff in scrolls. She never left them anywhere in case she needed to leave short notice.

Just the other side of the gate Max felt someone behind her.

"What do you want?" Max asked aloud.

"You to come back in one piece" she heard Itachi say. She smiled and turned.

"Of course I will. Have I ever not… wait don't answer that. This should be a simple search and retrieve mission, nothing to worry about" Max reassured, she gave Itachi a quick hug and impulsive kiss on the cheek before walking to the other side of the Wards boundary and apparating out.

"I hate the way you say 'should' it should be 'will' especially when you do something stupid like apparating without much experience" Itachi said to the space were she had been, he touched his cheek where she had kissed.

Max appeared in a side alley in London. She did a quick check of body parts and headed to a main road to figure out where to go next. She took a card from her pocket and read the address. It was somewhere in Winchester. Max was lucky she had been there before so knew roughly, which train to get.

The train ride was long and boring but short compared to the Hogwarts express. Max spent most of it trying not to be sick over someone and trying to keep her headache at bay.

She quickly henged into her alias of Mu in a back alley and headed to the gates to Wammy's house.

"What is your business here?"

"I need to talk to L"

"Why?"

"I can only talk to L on this matter"

"Do you have a card?" Max held up the business card she had been given. The gates buzzed and opened. Max walked up the drive to the house. Watari opened the door.

"Mu?"

"Yeah, it's me, I have important news but I assume you already know"

"Yes, I've heard that Light has escaped"

"He's going to go after the detectives who caught him, and try to get that note book back. That puts me and L in danger"

"I understand, L will be warned"

"I will be undertaking a job to seek him out and bring him to justice. I will keep you informed"

"You're doing this for Psi aren't you?" asked Watari knowingly.

"Yes, she was my best friend and I'll make sure she didn't die in vain"

"Just remember to think rationally, L is already on his way to Japan, he will contact you, play some tennis the courts there are well maintained" Mu smiled then turned back down the drive.

She quickly arranged to catch the next flight to Japan. She was so glad for Gringotts system of conversion into muggle money via a muggle bank account feature. She made a note to see how Harry and Draco were doing at their new school.

The flight was uneventful despite seeing another genius. Yes, Artemis Fowl was also on the flight what he was doing on a commercial flight was lost on her. Max was flying as her normal self due to the fact she only had a passport in that name and picture, she was regretting it immensely. She could tell that the boy genius had recognized her.

"Fancy seeing you here" Max said as he approached.

"Must have been coincident"

"I don't believe in coincident, besides someone as rich as you would surely have his own aeroplane"

"You could just be paranoid"

"I know I'm paranoid, I also know I'm right"

"I'm Artemis Fowl the second"

"Maxine Hakie, please call me Max, because quite frankly I don't care how skilled you bodyguard is I will still make you regret it"

"You don't seem to have anyone else travelling with you," said Artemis sitting in the empty seat next to Max.

"They were all busy"

"Isn't it term time at schools?"

"It is"

"Shouldn't you be at school then?"

"Shouldn't you?" retorted Max.

"Touché, my school is on a trip to Japan to visit its twin school, I got delayed slightly so took a later flight" he clarified

"I'm visiting a friend who goes to school in Japan, I'll be working there for a term or two so I don't get behind on my school work" returned Max.

"What do you study?" asked Artemis. Max smiled, and they started to converse about various subjects and their opinions on them.

All too soon, the plane landed and they disembarked heading their separate ways. Max went to the old hotel she had originally been at for the case, changing into her Mu alias again once she had gotten there. She took the same precautions as she had before the mask and hat under Henge.

She had made Mu 15 in the previous case so he looked a bit older but not much. She knew that L wouldn't be there but it would give her some familiar ground.

The next thing she did was head to the nearest tennis courts. She still couldn't walk past the lamppost without laughing. She noticed Rem ahead of her and by the looks of it Ryuk. Well finding Light was easier than expected. She hadn't noticed the crowd near by though. Max walked up to them.

"Excuse me, do you know where the nearest tennis courts are, I'm supposed to be meeting my friend there but I don't know where it is" lied Max politely. She looked at all of them trying to see if Light was disguised as one of them.

"Its down to the end of the road and turn Left, keep walking until you reach a crossroad then turn left again and along there you should see it"

"Thank you" said Max as she walked off, following the directions. She kept an eye open for Light, she could see Rem following her and Ryuk was going in a different direction.

At the tennis courts she made a clone of the old Zeta alias appear from a back alley holding a bag with tennis equipment. She had made it book the courts for about half an hour. Max and her clone each took a racquet and a couple of balls and started to play.

Max herself hadn't played tennis in years, but she still knew most of the rules. She made Mu a bit better than Zeta; it would fit, as Zeta seemed to care more about looks than sport.

Max noticed a crowd forming. She didn't miss L in the crowd watching. Nor did she miss Light in disguise not far from L both oblivious of each other and both watching her and her clone. She couldn't stop the match with out alerting the two of them that she knew they were there.

She also saw a weird group of people, there were a set of twins her were watching excitedly. A girl dressed as a boy, and Max thought she was the only one disguised as a boy, a small boy who looked no older that 12 standing next to a giant of a boy with dark hair. There was also a blond boy who seemed to be pestering the girl and lastly a black haired boy with glasses just watching. They just didn't seem like the kind of people who would hand around some tennis courts

Max had realised she was much better at tennis than she had been in the other universe, probably because she had trained her reactions to a higher level and her speed was faster. The game finished and Light in his brilliant disguise that Max could see through, her eyesight and sense of smell were better than anyone's and she could identify him from those things, challenged Max.

He then got his ass royally handed to him. Max showed no mercy with her serves. She was surprised her racquet was still in one piece with the power she put into her shots. She was immensely glad for her ninja training or she would no way have lasted even the first match.

Light still tried his hardest to beat her; Max assumed it was some sort of delusion that if he beat Mu then he would beat Mu in the actual cat and mouse game. Ryuk was floating with Rem and they were talking.

"You aren't too bad" complemented Max as she hit the ball back across the net. she was playing more than tennis now, she was playing with minds. She had effectively thrown down the towel. Light couldn't do anything at the moment since she had done nothing hostile. It would draw unwanted attention to him.

"I haven't played tennis in a few years so I'm a bit rusty," said Light. Damn, Max thought, she had hoped her would have gotten a bit peeved with her.

"Nor have I, I've been busy," Max wasn't exactly lying. The game ended Max winning by a lot, she reckoned she should introduce the game to ninjas back home. As she walked back to the hotel making sure Light wasn't following her, she felt someone else following her. She kind of guessed it wasn't just Rem.

"L?"

"Yes?"

"Is it safe for you to be out when Light's out for you blood and that book" asked Max with an eyebrow raised.

"No"

"Well aren't you the safety conscious person," said Max sarcastically.

"It's not safe for you either," L pointed out.

"I don't need protecting, I can keep myself safe, and I won't die by blocked arteries from cholesterol that's through the roof" L gave her a funny look.

"How old are you" asked L, Max was caught of guard.

"Huh"

"How old are you?" L repeated.

"Why?"

"You need to go to school or it would look a bit suspicious. Watari is setting it up but I need to know which grade you need to be in"

"16" anything less and Max wouldn't be taken seriously and be treated like a stressy teen. Much more and she would be teased for being short for her age, especially as a boy.

"It'll be sorted by the weekend, meet here tomorrow and I'll take you to a place you can live for the time being" Max nodded and headed home. She noticed L getting into a car and driving off as Max was walking down the street.

She was wondering about the school and how long she would actually stay there. She probably would have to go back for the second task and the third but apart from that she was going to avoid Hogwarts like the plague. There was no way she would go to the Yule ball.

--

Max has he memory back, Itachi knows Max and Laura's secret a tad of romance and Max is going to school as a guy, how is Max going to cope?

Review please, it helps me so much.


	30. New school and stalkers

Just so you guys know, when i say Mu its Max unded her 'Mu' henge so most of this chapter is Mu instead of Max. she will still be refered to as a girl unless someones speaking and doesnt know her true gender.

As i said last time i havent seen or read Ouran high school host club so there may be mistakes, i'm basing this of what i got from reading fanfiction about it. i would have read the books but i'm a poor student who wants a job but as of yet doesnt have one. that and my local book shop had books 2,6 and 9.

On to other things, i have finally finished the practical for my chemistry coursework i just hope it was the right thing that i was investigating. Biology as usual is boring and i reckon i failed the maths test, then again i could blame the spider that was next to me. It was watching me, i swear it was. it was making me fail with its mind powers. i named it but i cant remember what i named it, i even gave it a life story but i forgot that too.

--

"You're kidding me!"

"Ouran high school is the best in this part of Japan, you'll be joining the first year, here's a file of the things you need to know, and you're starting tomorrow," said L handing over a thick folder. Mu felt a ton of impending doom. She knew that name but not where from.

"It's a posh place for stuck up rich brats" Mu whined.

"Your uniform and other things will be at you flat," L continued, ignoring Mu's protests. Mu was glad for the fact she had a flat, one person in a house was stupid. She had also seen the girl's uniform and for once she was glad she was disguised as a boy. She was not ever going to wear a dress. Ever.

"Why do I have a feeling I won't be able to skive class work?" moaned Mu. L raised an eyebrow. Mu could tell he was thinking about the intelligence Mu had shown and the skiving.

"Your first lesson is at 8 am, don't be late, you need to blend in" with the final words L was gone. Mu was annoyed, some of her lessons she knew this stuff but learning it in Japanese would be annoying. that and L hadnt given her a chance to say no.

In all she was not looking forward to going back to school. School meant work and annoying kids. She never liked conventional school. The last two had been Ninja academy and then a Magic school, going to an ordinary school was going to bore her to tears. She began to walk to her new home paying very little attention to her surroundings.

She tried to remember where she had heard of Ouran and failed, the memory thing still had caused her to lose some of her memories that would gradually come back to her but it would be over a while.

The next morning Max groaned as she woke up. She had checked the place for cameras the night before and found it clean. She wandered over the bathroom to get ready, she hated being up before seven and the time was now 6:30. It would take her an hour and a half to get ready and get to school. She had read the file last night and seen the name she had been enrolled under.

'Muon Shay', she hadn't thought it was too bad but it would be another alias to add to her growing list. Her favourite had been Nu Trino, because it was said 'neutrino', and yes, Max was a bit of a science geek sometimes. Her background was simple she was from America and her parents wanted her to get the best education so sent her there.

She sent out henged clones to look out for Light during the day, some would look around the Japanese Underground some just wander around listening to conversations.

She spent a good hour refining her look. For short terms of time, it wasn't bad but for undeterminable amounts of time, it wouldn't last under scrutiny. She had removed her hat but still had the mask under Henge. She had lengthened the hair a bit and added darker shades of blond to the really pale colour it was.

Eventually she was ready and headed off riding a bike, she would have had a motorbike but she would have had to be around 18 to even get a license. She still liked her bike, it was light and fast, she had modified it to make the speed fastest she could, the balance and the turning better than normal on she particularly liked the paintwork she had done. It was a metallic black with light metallic blue vines with small thorns.

She got to school and headed to the first room she needed to. She was in class 1-A. the folder said it only had the brightest students or students from a very good linage. She wasn't expecting to see the girl-dressed-as-a-guy sitting in the classroom. Apparently neither was the girl as she looked at Mu in surprise.

"Can I sit here?" asked Mu politely. The girl nodded furiously before moving her things over to make space.

"You were playing tennis a few days ago at the courts weren't you"

"Yes" answered Mu, she was wondering how to ask why she dressed like a boy.

"You were awesome I wish I could play like that"

"Thanks, my name is Shay, Muon, I'm the new kid"

"Fujioka, Haruhi, scholarship student," that explained the clothes, the uniform was really expensive.

"Nice to meet you" Max figure she could at least hang around with the girl so she wouldn't get lost too badly.

"You too" they stopped talking when the teacher walked in.

"We have a new student today. Shay, Muon. Now onto trigonometry…" the teacher started to drone. Mu leaned back in her chair balancing it on the back two legs not really paying attention. She had been doing trig the day she left the other universe.

"Mr Shay, are you listening?"

"No"

"Maybe you could answer the question on the board, since you obviously know since you weren't listening"

"The answerer is 24.091 cm" Mu replied coolly. Teachers telling her of for not paying attention wasn't new and being asked about a question on the board certainly wasn't new. The lesson ended soon after.

"Don't forget our twin school has students around so be polite to them" Max froze. Wasn't Artemis visiting a twin school for smart kids and kids of linage? At least she wasn't here as Max, that would have been an unwelcome coincident.

"Muon come on we'll be late" Mu was tugged along by Haruhi.

"Call me Mu, Muon is to annoying; besides it wouldn't be proper for a girl to drag a boy around. I'll escort you" Mu smirked. If she hadn't started acting like a guy it might have started to look suspicious.

"How did you know I'm a girl?" demanded Haruhi.

"I'm not blind. I'm observant; I noticed when I saw you watching the tennis match"

"Very well you may escort me" they chatted about random things until they got to the next classroom.

"You would make a great host; a good multitalented boy like you would have loads of customers"

"You make it sound like I'm a whore, what do you mean by host anyway?" muttered Mu. She suddenly felt the presence of two identical people leaning on Haruhi's shoulders. She couldn't help but groan.

"Not more twins" Mu groaned slapping her forehead.

"I'm hurt"

"This boy takes our Haruhi-"

"-and insults us"

"Sucks to be you two," said Mu shrugging. The twins gasped.

"Such rudeness."

"Wait, isn't he that guy who was playing tennis at the commoner's courts a while ago?" asked one of the twins. Mu thanked whatever god there were that they hadn't said that in twin speak. It still felt weird being referred to as male though.

"He seems to be so," said the other twin inspecting Mu.

"You could ask me yourselves" deadpanned Mu.

"We could-"

"-But then-"

"-It wouldn't-"

"-Bug you"

"You bug me too much and you meet my friend Mr Pain," growled Mu holding up a fist threateningly.

"What are you going to do?"

"Beat us with a tennis racquet?" taunted the other twin.

"No, but good idea" Mu said before entering the classroom they had been talking outside off.

Unfortunately, Mu walked into another person she didn't want to see. Artemis Fowl, he had been standing by the door looking at something.

"Sorry didn't see you there" Mu apologized before finding an empty seat.

The rest of the day flew past Mu constantly would get told of for not paying attention and then she would show of by answering any question. She was on her way to L's new HQ. After going through the checks, she got up to the main surveillance room.

"Why did you have to send me to that school?" Mu groaned slumping on a chair.

"It's the best and since your helping on this case you should get the best"

"Do you really hate me that much?" Mu asked, L looked confused.

"You sent me to a place where the girls are screaming banshees and the guys are either rich brats or just weird, I now have my own little fan group, who follow me. Constantly!" Mu whined, from second lesson she had noticed a group of girls following her and had found it impossible to shake them.

She had decided then and there never to disguise herself as a boy ever again. She now knew how Sasuke felt and pitied him, he had this all the time.

"As long as it doesn't hinder your ability to help the case"

"Have you ever had fan girls?" hissed Mu.

"No"

"Then you don't know what its like" said Mu sulking in her chair.

"Have you seen any sign of Light?"

"No, he's smart enough to not get caught straight away but he will fall at the next hurdle of getting the book. You do still have the book right?"

"Yes," Max felt a clone disappear as she got a load of information.

"He plans to steal it"

"How do you know?"

"If someone had something of yours what would you do? You'd get it back obviously, Light wants that book back so he can continue playing God, the stupid git" Mu said. She really didn't like the idea of someone playing God, it was the easy way out of things, she hadn't written a single name in her own death note. Hopefully only one name would need to be written.

"Just keep an eye on it, I have to go be somewhere," Mu said as she departed. She just wanted to laze around or play tennis again, she never realised how much fun it could be. She created her Zeta clone to play against and headed to the courts. She defiantly needed to teach some of the ninja's tennis.

It kept her so she wouldn't have to do loads of intense training to keep with her fitness scheme she had as a jounin. With the missions she would end up slacking of since there was no physical sport apart from Quiddich and even that wasn't that active. Mu noticed Haruhi was watching her again.

"Do you play" asked Mu, Zeta offered a racquet. Haruhi shook her head.

"I'm no good at sports"

"So practise, I'll give you some tips, it won't hurt," pouted Mu. Haruhi made the mistake of looking at Mu's face.

"Ok" she said crumbling to the force that was Mu's puppy dog eyes. Zeta handed over a racquet and moved to the side of the court to watch. Mu served the ball and then pointed out flaws and tips to help. After a while, they managed to get a cooperative volley going.

"So what is a host?" asked Mu randomly, she had been meaning to ask but had forgotten.

"Basically they are host like party hosts for ladies who pay the guys to treat them like princesses"

"So they are whores?" asked Mu purposely misunderstanding.

"No, well not quite, the twins could be, they have this twin love thing going, all the girls think it's cute" Mu had started to choke on her drink.

"That's incest, dude those guys are gross, there related and will end up with kids with seven toes on each limb, that's if they find a way to have kids, and they're behind me, aren't they" Mu said as she noticed the look on Haruhi's face. She nodded.

"As long as they keep there incestuous behaviour to themselves" Mu said wielding her racquet, delicately twirling it around her fingers.

"Haruhi-"

"-Why are you-"

"-Playing tennis-"

"-With the guy-"

"-Who insulted us?" finished one of the twins. Mu took a ball from her pocket and threw it in the air before hitting it at one of the twins. It was a direct hit and ricocheted of the first twins head on to the second twins head and bounced back to Mu's feet and up into her waiting hand.

"You forgot, 'and hit a tennis ball at us with amazingly precise aim'," added Mu throwing it up and swinging the racquet as if to hit it again but she purposely missed and caught the ball. She sniggered as the twins flinched. She quickly glanced at the time and decided to head home.

She would need all the sleep she could get to avoid her group of fangirls/stalkers. It was creepy the way they knew where she would be and was even creepier the fact she had fan girls and was a girl herself.

"I'll taunt you some more tomorrow incestuous twins," Mu said before gathering her stuff and heading to her flat.

She didn't make it that far, she bumped into the disguised Light. He couldn't do anything so long as he didn't have the death note. Thought it wouldn't stop any physical violence but Mu outstripped him by far in that department.

"You're day's are numbered" murmured Light as he brushed passed. Mu smirked.

"You have fewer days than I; you won't survive the end of this month" Mu returned in the same murmur. Light turned to her to punch her but it was easily caught. A bottle flew through the air at Mu, she caught it just before it connected with her head.

--

Taunting people is funny, escpesially Light.

Who through the bottle? will Max kick their ass? will Light get caught by the police?

find out next time after you leave a reveiw.


	31. Confrontations

Man i've had a ditsy day. one of my physics teachers probably thinks i'm an idiot and will fail like my sister, ok, i forgot my hwk and wasnt paying attention during part of it because i was trying to figure out what percentage i got on the mini test thing (8.5 out of 12) about particle physics, which for me is good.

My maths teacher didnt turn up for the lesson, we waited ten minutes then said f.ck it and changed the clock before leaving saying we'd waited the full 15 minutes were suposed to if a teacher hasnt turned up.

Then i had creative writing, we had hot chocolate and cookies, woo!, i couldnt write in it as i find it hard to write down stories but typing them are no problem. i ended up doodleing on my writing pad

Last period we had biology and i learnt nothing, i barley paid attention. we were using some bio veiwer things which look like something you get in those crappy kids sets.

--

Mu was so close to laughing when she saw whom it was. The drunken guy who had been hitting in Light all those weeks ago was standing there with another bottle in his hand, this one half full, and was staggering over.

"Leave my boy alone," slurred the drunken man putting his arm around Lights shoulder. Mu sniggered as Light went red. The drunken mans hands had knocked of Light's disguise.

"Is this that guy Psi told me about?" Mu said trying to keep a straight face. Light's face just went redder.

"I'm surprised he isn't dead, I though you would have killed him by now, you killed my friend for a less offence" said Mu his face sobered up from the laughter.

"She was asking for it," Light snarled removing the arm form his shoulder.

"No she wasn't, she was saving lives, she still has saved lives, and you have no method of killing them anymore" Mu tried kept a straight face when she noticed the drunken man's hand was wandering.

"Where is my note?" Light demanded,

"I know but like hell am I going to tell you, I value my life, despite the fact you do not know my name or true face, I value the life's of others, I do not kill for the sake of making people fear me and worship me"

"I don't either, I kill criminals"

"What about those who are innocent falsely incriminated or framed or had no choice because there family was in danger, you just want people to fear you, well you aren't as smart as you think," Mu said fiercely. Light smirked and someone walked up to him with an envelope.

"Your wrong about one thing, I have the death note" Light sneered. Mu wasn't sure whether to believe it"

"Prove it" Light opened the envelope and took out the familiar black book. In addition, a piece of paper. Clearly written on the paper mere the words 'L. Lawliet'. Mu froze; this was very bad, L could die if she didn't do something soon before Light noticed the piece of paper. She looked around frantically only to notice Ryuk.

"Ryuk, help me" Mu implored, if she killed Light, she would be in trouble unless she distracted everyone but to do that she needed to distract Light. Ryuk and Light looked at her in surprise. Mu made a few hand signs to make the generic ninja clones she had used before. Light's eyes widened as the came from a nearby alley.

"You stole Misa's book, but your people got defeated by a silver haired girl and she has the book" summarised Light.

"This one?" Mu made another clone come from the alleyway. One of her normal self. With a hand gesture she made them move away out of sight.

"You set up the whole thing?" asked Light in disbelief.

"No, Yuri did, you were outsmarted and outmanoeuvred, and going straight back to jail"

"Ryuk, write down her name"

"I've never seen a human try to order a death god around, manly because most humans aren't stupid enough to think it would work" Mu wondered aloud she ran over to him, ready to do something to save herself. She took out a knife and put it by his neck. Ryuk grinned more so that usual and took out his death note. Light was smirking but confused why Mu was smirking as well.

She could tell the pen wasn't touching paper, but she would play along, besides by killing her, Light's life span would lengthen and Ryuk would die. She doubted Ryuk wanted to die.

She counted 40 seconds from when Ryuk finished write and collapsed droping the knife. Light smiled in victory but it was short lived. Immediately Light was bundled to the ground by Mu's 'Max' clone.

"I'm Rho and I will be the one to escort you to the wacky shack for some quality time with a psychiatrist," Said the clone happily snapping some disposable cuffs on Light wrists. Mu stood up and shook her head.

"Idiot" she said as she watched as Rho called the police.

"But Ryuk killed you, he wrote you name in his death note"

"He pretended to, if he had he wouldn't exist anymore as it could have lengthened your life span if I was actually going to kill you, Ryuk didn't want to take that chance"

"You tricked me" Light accused, glaring at Mu.

"Me, fool a 'God', never," Mu mocked. She nodded her head towards the road where a police car was approaching.

"Here come the cavalry"

Mu didn't expect the next few minutes to go so wrong. They cut the disposable cuffs to put on proper ones, Light had reacted as soon at the plastic had been released he shoved away the nearest officer and legged it.

Mu was about to give chase when the officers blocked her way trying to follow him. Mu just hoped he hadn't read the paper, she saw it on the floor and picked it up, she could only hope.

She slipped away, dismissing her clones as she headed to her flat more depressed than ever. She didn't get much sleep, her thought would not leave her alone, she had let Light get away, and she had let a murderer back on the streets. She had failed.

Haruhi noticed Mu wasn't in a good mood the next day, she was snapping at anyone who crossed her the wrong way, by the end of two weeks of this one of the twins had confronted her.

"What crawled up your ass and died"

"Kira's back in the world, he killed my best friend someone like a sister to me and he escaped, I could have stopped him but he slipped through my fingers,"

"Was your friend a criminal?"

"No! She was there to catch him; she was the reason we know who Kira is,"

"You should become a host; it would take your mind of it" offered the twin, Mu sighed, they had been offering ever since a bunch of girls had taken to following Mu. Mu was avoiding them and the third music room. She had realised which anime she was in last week and pretty much kicked herself about it.

"I don't want to become a host,"

"You get paid for it"

"You make it sound like prostitution," retorted Mu. The twin shrugged. Mu had an excuse for not learning names, 1) she would actually have to figure out which was which and 2) she couldn't give them random nicknames. She would generally call them twin one and twin two, switching between them randomly even it she had just called that twin 'twin one' she would call it 'twin two' next time. As for the rest of the club, she just avoided them so they couldn't blackmail her into joining but causing an accident she would have to pay for.

She walked away from the twin right into Artemis.

"Sup?" she got a glare for her greeting and was ignored as he brushed passed her. At least he hadn't made some connection between her 'Mu' alias and Max, it would make things a load more complicated.

Christmas came a week before hand Mu was trying to form a plan. It had been two months since Mu had started Ouran and she was no closer to finding Light again or losing her fangirls/stalkers. She wasn't quite sure what was more irritating.

She was just glad she had been able to skip out on the Yule ball. On the other hand, that had been what she was hoping. She had gotten a message saying she was supposed to attend but she had made her intentions very clear on the matter. It seemed that Itachi had made it look like she had gone to Japan for the holidays. It was the week before Christmas when McGonagall had appeared in her flat. Luckily, Max was in her normal appearance not her Mu disguise.

"You really need to attend this ball, its tradition that the champions open it with a partner"

"It's not in the contract, be glad that I did the first task, I don't want to do any of this and I know you can't make me go, I checked the rule book all I should have to do its turn up for the beginning of the tasks" Max grumbled as she turned the page of her book.

"But it's…" started the professor but Max cut her off.

"I don't want to hear it, screw tradition, if we kept all our traditions we'd still be living in the dark ages. Oh yeah, you are with the castle with suit of armour with Sharp, Pointy, Weapons! I'm surprised kids haven't tried using them to fight with." Max ranted not looking up from her book.

"I hadn't thought about that"

"I could go on with the flaws but I fear you need to be somewhere… other than here… like back at the school" Max said hinting that she wanted the woman to go.

"You really…"

"I don't give two monkeys arses; I'm not going to the damn ball. If Dumbledore couldn't get me to do something, what chance do you think you have?" reasoned Max. McGonagall gave her a disapproving look before taping the portkey that would take her back to the school. Max sighed in relief she put down the book, took out her laptop, and began to do some work.

She planed on visiting Kanto's magical school to see Harry and Draco later but now she needed to do some things like plant false information for the host club to find. She knew they were trying to find dirt on her to coerce her into joining to increase their profits. She would just give them stuff that they thought they could use but would ultimately fail.

She heard a knock on the door and reapplied her Henge into Mu. At the door were two of the hosts. Hunny and Mori as they were generally known. Mu tried to slam the door but failed due to a foot in the way.

"Do you mind, but your foots in the way of my door, its stopping me from slamming it in your faces" said Mu sweetly.

"If you let us in it wouldn't be a problem," said Hunny. Mu knew that Mori didn't speak much if at all. She idly wondered if he had Uchiha blood in him for the tall dark and mysteriously quiet nature.

"If you left me alone it would be less of a problem," returned Mu snappishly.

"We want to invite you to a winter ball…"

"No" Mu had only just gotten out of one she didn't want to have to go to another.

"But I didn't even finish" pouted the small 18 year old.

"I don't care; I don't go to balls or other social functions. Now you've asked you can remove yourselves from my doorstep," Mu said, her glare directed at both of them somehow.

"But…" Hunny never got to finish as Mu shut the door. When there was a knocking second later, she ignored it. Her phone rang and Mu rolled her eyes, at this rate she wouldn't get anything done.

"What!?"

"Is that anyway to greet your bestest buddy" asked Laura from the other end.

"Yes"

"What's up?"

"Getting stalked by Fan girls," grumbled Mu.

"Oh. Man I wish I was there just to see it," Laura squealed.

"You try getting followed around by a bunch of squealing girls," complained Mu.

"No thanks"

"Can I speak to Sasuke?"

"Sure just a second"

"Hn" was the familiar sound of Sasuke.

"How do you get rid of them?"

"Get rid of whom?"

"Fan girls, and I will never tease you about them ever again, I feel you pain"

"Run and hide, why do you think Uchiha's are fast runners and good hiders?"

"I always wondered, thanks,"

"Why do you…" Mu closed the phone before he could finish, she didn't want to have to explain why she was disguised as a boy to everyone. Even better, she never got bothered about what Laura wanted anyway. She sunk into her chair wondering if she would get time to actually go to see Harry and Draco.

She packed away her laptop; she doubted she would get any more work done now. Grabbing her bag, she opened the door and was glad to find it vacant of people.

She caught a bus from the magical area nearby and was headed off finally on the way she dropped her Mu disguise. She was then jumped by the two boys the second she got off the bus.

"Nice to see you too" greeted Max in Japanese, hopefully the two boys understood Japanese.

"Max! It's been so long, we heard about the tournament, isn't it supposed to be the Yule ball today. Are you going?" rambled Harry in slightly flawed Japanese, it good for some one who had been learning for under half a year.

"Yes it is the Yule ball today and no I'm not going" answered Max Draco looked horrified.

"How can you not go, you're a champion, you can't not go"

"Watch me, how's school anyway?"

"Much better than Hogwarts, no potions master breathing down your neck, not fakes and best of all no teachers who want to kill me" said Harry at high speed. Max raised an eyebrow.

"Did you give him sugar?" asked Max pointing at Harry. Draco nodded.

"Now you know not to," said Max as if talking to a youngster. Draco rolled his eyes and escorted Max to the canteen followed by Harry. She was introduced to some of the people in there. Unfortunately, she had been recognised as one of the champions. The Japanese students though the whole thing was a waste of time and stupidly dangerous.

Max agreed and explained that the British ministry for magic was a joke and shouldn't be allowed to control the price of cabbage let alone a country. Things went swimmingly from then.

It was late when Max finally got to her flat. She was a bit tired so slumped onto her sofa and fell asleep. She was glad school was out for a few weeks she wouldn't have to deal with work. She still preferred Ouran to Hogwarts. At Ouran only kids tried to get her to do things not people over the age of one hundred.

--

As i have said at least twice i havent read OHSHC so i dont completly know what the characters are like so from my limited knowlage i'm writing how Max would react. and also Mu would be considered hot by the girls the accent and the looks would be the reason, the host club wants to up its profits which is why they keep asking Mu to join.

Review Please


	32. Christmas and a bit beyond

i know its been ages since my last update (just over a week) but i have school work to think of. i also had the 6th form Revue to help with. I was part of the back stage crew my job was to take props on and off the stage during the intervals which were stupidly short so the light would go on just as you placing it down. it was still awesome and theres suposedly an after party on friday or saturday.

The revue was awesome in general, yeah the same chair broke both nights and the music stoped in the middle of a song but it made it more interesting. but i reckon the best part was when some kids did part of the rocky horror with the transvestites, i cant look at the two guys in my maths class the same way ever again, not after i've seen them in corsets, wigs, make up and the poofy net skirt thingys.

but its finished now so i may update more often.

the OHSHC characters may be OC as i havent read them but i have tried my best.

--

Christmas for Max was quiet in the beginning. She woke up like normal, blinked a few times. Then she yelped and accidently rolled of her bed. Beginning for Max was the first five seconds after all.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" Max asked panicked as she stood up with her duvet wrapped around herself. In her room were the hosts.

"Why are you in Mu's house?" asked Hunny who was standing at the end of her bed.

"Well sh.t" Max remembered she had released her Henge as it tended to strain her and cause insomnia if she kept it during the night. She was glad she had remembered to wear her hat to bed though.

"I'm Mu's cousin, I arrived late last night and Mu offered me his bed, he got up early to do some things" Max lied studying them for their reactions. The guys seem to believe it, though Mori was looking a bit sceptical.

"So I've answered you question now answer mine"

"We were here to give a business proposal; it would prove beneficial to him"

"How?"

"It would rid him of fan girls for the day, and maybe come to some arrangement to get rid of them for longer"

"He has fan girls? Oh this is priceless" Max was wondering if she should be concerned how well she played different personalities.

"So what would the name of a beautiful young lady be?" asked the tall blond one asked politely.

"Rho," said Max using the name she had given to Light when taunting him.

"I am Tamaki, leader of the host club at Ouran high school"

"Host club… wait, never mind, I want to get changed first to kindly get the hell out of this room," said Max before herding them out of the door and closing it behind them. She did a quick sweep for cameras and then got dressed into some warm clothes. She made a clone in the Mu disguise and made walk in the flat. Then Max left the bedroom ready to do some acting.

"Hey Mu, I hear you have fan girls" Rho said cheerfully. Mu groaned and glared at the hosts.

"You just had to tell her, what are you doing here anyway?"

"We have a preposition, it should help get rid of the fan girls, if you attend the wint…"

"Did you not understand no the first time?" interrupted Mu hoping to give the hint not to press it.

"A what?" asked Rho eagerly, destroying Mu's glare.

"A winter ball" Rho suppressed a snigger and headed for the door.

"Tell me how that goes, and good luck if you're attempting it, you'll need it, and Mu, I'll be back in a bit," Rho announced before leaving. She sent a clone to get her some caffeinated drink while she walked around the park, concentrating on keeping Mu's personality straight.

It was when the laptop in the flat pinged. That meant L was trying to contact her and she needed to be around for that. Rho made Mu call her so she would have an excuse why she was back so quickly.

She walked straight in and grabbed the laptop as she passed it on her way to the bedroom. She made Mu get rid of the hosts saying it was Christmas and he wanted to spend it catching up with his cousin.

"What do you need?" asked Rho making her voice slightly more like Mu's, despite the scrambler it was still distinctively male when Mu was speaking.

"You missed your check in"

"That was today? But its Christmas" Mu whined.

"I doubt Light will take the day off"

"He may not but I will be"

"I thought you were dedicated to tracking down Psi's killer, would she want him to slip through our fingers because you took a day off"

"Guilt tripping, interesting technique, but unfortunately… You fail! If you had any information you would have told me to keep me working so I can only assume there are no new leads, so I can take the day off," reasoned Rho.

"Keep your phone on" was L's last message before the L onscreen disappeared. Rho sighed and made sure that the hosts were gone before dispelling her clone and changing back to Mu if she needed to she would make a Rho clone to keep up the story. Mu walked down to the tennis courts, she noticed people around wrapped up warm.

After being in so many climates and the help of magic Mu wasn't affected by the cold as much. She had created her normal Zeta clone and was playing a few games to keep active she had her Rho clone near by in case the hosts turned up, she noticed people watching her. Mainly a teenage girl with a bunch of small children. Something didn't feel right about the girl but Mu couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Probably because the parents wanted them out of the house to do something like sort out the Christmas lunch or dinner. Mu remembered the feeling all too well, she had been ill for weeks after when her parent had told her to take the younger ones out without giving her a chance to get a thick jacket.

Mu's phoned buzzed and she took it out of her pocket flipping it open in one swift movement.

"Sup?" she answered.

"Mu, Light's been spotted near the park I need you to be there, but be careful. Don't trust anyone," warned L.

"Can do, will do, shall do," said Mu before shutting the phone and slipping it back into the pocket it had come from, she had still been playing tennis while talking on the phone. She threw in some trick shots to throw of any watchers before hitting it directly at the teenager nearby.

"I didn't realise you were into cross-dressing Light" said Mu in a mockingly shocked way. Mu had realised it reminded her of how Haruhi normally looked when she crossdressed.

"What are you talking about?" asked the girl innocently.

"Your wig is slipping," explained Mu with a smirk. Light reached up to it only to feel it was in place.

"Dude, are you really that gullible? I'll give you points for hiding Ryuk but once again you failed epically" Light looked at her, she had blown his cover and he needed to leave. He turned ready to run.

"I wouldn't do that, running will mean we have the excuse to harm you" Light ran anyway. He was quickly pined to a bench with sebon needles. Zeta was quickly behind him.

"You were warned. You want to know something funny… I'm a trained assassin, I could kill you here and now and no one would know it was me. You would just be another statistic," Zeta whispered. Light was really panicking now.

Mu and Rho had reached them and were removing the sebon pinning his arms to the bench. Rho slipped on a pair of disposable handcuffs again while Mu searched for the death note. She removed it from a pocket with her sleeves over her hands so she wouldn't get fingerprints over it.

"You won't be getting away this time," Mu said as she tightened the cuffs.

"I think not" Mu frowned but ducked when she heard the unmistakeable sound of a gunshot. The bullet bit into the wood where her head had just been. Her clones reacted similarly under light gunfire.

"It seems Rho had some enemies, Scorpia were only to happy to help take her and her associates out. The only condition being I don't kill them" smirked Light.

"Aw crap, I don't wanna beat there asses up humiliatingly on Christmas" whined Rho.

"Arrogant much?"

"No… ok maybe, but that hasn't gotten me killed yet"

"You're about to die and your making jokes"

"I'm not going to die, I could beat Scorpia up blindfolded" scoffed Rho. Mu was making hand signs for shadow clones ready to take out Scorpia, Zeta was just standing there doing nothing. Mu noticed something strange in the sky, it looked to big to be any bird but too small and low to be an aeroplane. There were a couple of other blobs in the sky near it. To Mu's superior eyesight she could see people with wings. Mu rolled her eyes and the clones disabled the Scorpia agents.

"Right then lets get you back into custody"

"What about Scorpia, they'll kill you before you take three steps"

"About them, they're kind of unconscious if not dead" shrugged Rho and she pulled Light to his feet, Zeta found a shopping cart nearby and Light found himself dumped in. they got some strange looks as they headed to L's base of operations but Mu just imitated drinking and she got some understanding nods.

Back in England, Laura was sitting in front of the fire in the Ravenclaw common room. She'd been having a bad feeling about Max being in Japan but it had passed so Laura was hopeful Max would be in one piece ready for the second task.

She wondered idly what Max was planning on doing, and even more importantly if she was even planning on turning up. She would send someone to make sure she remembered. Max seemed to have a very selective memory about these kinds of thing.

Mu sneezed in her flat in Japan. She rolled her eyes and went back to typing. It was a few weeks after christmas, Light had been taken into secure custody and the book was burnt, it had been explained that Light would probably lose his memories of being Kira but it was still done. To get around it they tore out a page to make him touch during the trial.

It had also been decided by L that Mu would stay for a bit longer in Japan, mainly to tie up loose ends and to testify again at the trial. It was merely a formality. After the trial, the last piece of his Death note was destroyed leaving him with no memories of it or being Kira. The case was finally closed for good.

Mu sighed as she finished some homework. She would be attending Ouran for the rest of the spring term. She was tempted to not do it but at the moment it was the most interesting thing she could do at the moment.

The doorbell rang and Mu stood up to see who it was. She wasn't surprised to see it was Hunny and Mori.

"Do I have to slam this door in your face to give you the hint to leave me alone" asked Mu sarcastically. She was met with silence. She then noticed the other hosts along the corridor.

"Ok, what are you planning?" asked Mu sceptically.

"Can you hold Usa-chan for a minute?" asked Hunny sweetly.

"No" Mu flatly refused. Hunny looked up at her with the biggest eyes he could muster, his lower lip was trembling and his eyes were all watery.

"But… I thought you were nice" Hunny whimpered looking hurt.

"That shows how well you know me, now I doubt you came over to ask me to hold a stuffed toy"

"Told you he wouldn't fall for it," muttered one of the twins. Mu tried to shut the door but as usual when dealing with the host club, she failed.

"I have things to do, so go away… Now!"

"We'll leave you alone if you join the club"

"That defeats the point, if I join the club I still have to spend time with you," Mu pointed out.

"We can get rid of your fan girls"

"I don't care; I'm leaving at the end of this term anyway"

"Did we do something wrong, is it because we keep bothering you. Please don't leave I'm sorry" moped Hunny, Mu wondered if Hunny was actually a better actor than she was but dismissed the thought. She needed to keep her mind on the conversation at hand in order to stay ahead of them.

"Remember my cousin. She's better at acting than you, so I can tell when people are trying to fool me into doing something I don't want to do," said Mu patronizingly.

"Just try if for a few weeks if you don't like it we'll stop bothering you" placated Haruhi. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Fine. I'll give it one chance, but only one. This is just so you'll leave me alone" Mu gave in, she needed to do some things and it seemed reasonable. She would just need to be careful of expensive objects.

"I can live with that," said Tamaki who then motioned for the others to leave it. Mu shut the door and groaned. Why couldn't she have gone back to England? Then she remembered something.

"Crap, the second task is the day after tomorrow, why do I get forced into things I don't want to do?" moaned Mu as she crashed on her sofa. She didn't feel like moving from that spot any time soon.

The next day Mu went to school as normal, hoping the hosts would forget. No such luck. She was dragged to the third music room the second she stepped through the gates.

"That's the last time I get here early," Mu grumbled, she was too tired to resist. She hadn't gotten much sleep, she had been trying to do her homework but kept getting distracted.

"Do you have any idea about what you need to do?"

"Nope" Mu said, it was only partially lying, she only really knew what happened in the books. She hadn't practised except that one time with Haruhi.

"We'll have to start from scratch" Mu felt impending doom approaching.

--

i'm kinda behind on my homework (suprise suprise) so the next one may take time to be written , hopefully i wont get detention, with my jammy genes it shouldnt happen. teacher never sem to care about my lack of homework or they dont check when i havent done it hence the fact i am extremly jammy.

Review please


	33. Hosts, Wings and tasks

Redone (19/7/10)

Hopefully you guys will understand the physicsy bit.

* * *

The end of the day for the students at Ouran high school was over but strangely only the male students seemed to be leaving. The female ones were gathered around the door to the third music room.

"I heard Mu was going to be a host today," squealed a girl.

"I hope he his!"

"He is so hot," sighed another fanning herself with her hand. On the other side of the door, Mu was wondering if she should have given in so easily.

"Why did I agree to this?" moaned the disguised girl.

"It was to get rid of us," replied one of the twins leaning on her shoulder.

"If you do not get of my shoulder I will insert my tennis racquet into your anal cavity," threatened Mu sweetly. The arm was quickly removed.

_

* * *

Flashback_

"_Sit up straight and smile, be polite but not patronizing, now pretend Haruhi is a client." Mu was instructed by one of the hosts. Mu rolled her eyes and did as she was told, the quicker she did this the quicker she could get out of this._

"_Stop moving you hands so much, keep you movements graceful." Mu rolled her eyes for the billionth time._

_She had realised that she had ended up being tricked into this even though it hadn't felt like it to begin with. First, they had harassed her into giving in, then one had suggested a lighter solution making it seem not so bad, it was only natural she had gone for the better sounding option. _

"_Be glad you only have to do this once," reminded Haruhi._

_The lesser of two evils she supposed._

_End flashback_

* * *

Three hours later Mu walked home exhausted. She could have sworn she had seen every single girl at least once. At least the host's would stop bothering her. She wondered how Haruhi dealt with it, still being a girl and all. She put the key in her lock but froze when she head movement in her flat. In a swift movement, she turned her key and opened the door slipping out two of the kunai she had hidden on her person. She looked around for the person or clues to who it was. She saw a bunch of feathers scattered on her floor and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's here?" she called out. She heard a crash from the bathroom. She made her way over to it and nudged the door open with her foot. Sitting on the side of the bathtub was a guy with black wings and a girl with off white wings with brown speckles bandaging the guys arm.

"_Uh, hi_" the girl looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"_What are you doing in my bathroom?_" asked Mu in English, the same language the girl had used.

"_Ok, normally we get, 'whoa you have wings' not 'what are you doing in my bathroom'_," said the girl a bit confused.

"_Well I'm not normal am I then? So why are you in my bathroom?_" asked Mu, she was trying to be as non-threatening as possible.

"_It doesn't matter._"

"_You're in my bathroom, of course it important. There's a bunch of feathers on my carpet and some blood on the floor in here, I'd say I have a right to know_."

"_Wow would you look at the time, we need to go?_" said the girl looking at her arm. Mu blocked the door.

"_One: you don't have a watch and two: I'm not going to harm you I just want to know why you picked my flat._"

"_It was the only empty one and I didn't want this guy to bleed to death_," explained the girl quickly her eyes darting to the exit, Mu assumed she was thinking about escaping is she had to.

"_Right, that's all I wanted to know, once you're done clear up the mess, I have homework to deal with, I don't have time to clear up the mess_," said Mu as she walked back out. The two winged teens looked at where she had been standing in confusion.

"_You're dripping blood_," Mu called out from the main room the girl noticed there was a small puddle of blood on the floor and quickly went back to bandaging the arm.

Five minutes later Mu was disturbed by the pair.

"_Uh, thanks I suppose… for not calling the police or kicking us out or even asking to many questions_"

"_No problem_," the winged teens left and Mu went back to working as if nothing had happened. Stranger things had happened before. Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door.

"_I swear if it's those host guys I will throttle them_," Mu snarled as she walked over to open the door. On the other side of the door was Artemis Fowl.

"What do you want?" Mu demanded reverting back to Japanese. She noticed there was a slightly blurred spot next to his shoulder; she assumed it was a fairy.

"Can I come in?"

"No"

"Why not? It's only polite to invite someone in"

"Well I guess I'm not polite at the moment, so if you would kindly remove yourself from my door and leave me alone I would be very grateful," Mu hissed before slamming the door in his face.

"What is it with people and standing on my doorstep today?" Mu groaned to herself.

"Getting interrupted today much?" asked a voice behind. Mu reacted by sending half a dozen kunai at the voice. She turned when she didn't hear any impact.

"Gah, couldn't you use the door like everyone else?" Mu ranted at the person.

"What and get verbally killed, not today."

"I wouldn't verbally kill you."

"And that makes it sound more reassuring."

"So what brings you here then, I doubt it was a social visit, I never get those."

"I got told to give you this," said the person holding out a note. Mu looked at it wearily and then took it; she instantly regretted it as she felt a hook around her navel.

* * *

She was deposited outside the wards by Hogsmede.

"You are a dead man Itachi," Mu growled as she walked up to the castle, she didn't bother to remove her Henge, it would fail in its own sweet time when she had spent enough time in the castle. In her hand was the crumple up piece of paper with the words '_Don't forget the second task Maxie-chan. Return time – exactly three days_' in Itachi's handwriting. She couldn't believe he remember her nickname, he was going to feel pain for a very long time for that.

She reached the castle in not time at all and headed straight to her room. She would have to devise a plan to sort out the task. She assumed that Laura would be the kidnapped one.

She lay in her bed starring at the ceiling thinking of ideas when one hit her. Of course, she could use physics to defeat it. She remembered one of her physics lessons where it was fondly know as the 'wanking experiment'. You got a rod of plastic and electrostaticly charged it by rubbing it with a duster rather vigorously. When you were charging it, it looked very wrong, hence the nickname.

Anyway, later in the lesson they had showed that it would displace a thin stream of water. Max would simply use the same principle to move the water out of her way, and with the help of her chakra she would hopefully get it to work.

* * *

She woke the next day to some one pounding on her door.

"Max get your lazy butt up, you're due by the lake in half an hour," yelled Laura in English. Max groaned and rolled over. Unfortunately, she rolled out of bed.

"I'm up already, leave me alone," she groaned rubbing her head. She had automatically switched to English when she was back in the castle.

It was five minutes later Max realised that it had been Laura who had called her… Meaning she probably wasn't at the bottom of the lake.

So who was?

"I bet nothing good's going to come from this," Max grumbled to her self as she finished getting ready. She then made her way up to the castle exit, grabbing a random shield from one of the suits of amour. She made it to the lake ten minutes before the second task was supposed to start.

"So the third champion is still alive," mused one of the judges.

"Nope, I'm as dead as ever," said Max inspecting the shield in her hand.

"Why do you have a shield, you do know what the task is right?" asked the Diggory boy from beside her.

"Nope, I just liked the pattern" Max replied happily, the Diggory by just raised an eyebrow. The shield had no design, it was just polished metal.

"Are all the champions ready?" asked the guy who was announcing the thing.

"Yes," replied Krum confidently.

"Yes," was the reply from Diggory.

"Uh, maybe" was Max's sheepish reply.

"You have one hour," announced the guy before sending up a flare of colour. Both boys dived in straight of the mask. Max just stood on the jetty hoping from one foot to the other.

"But its cold," she whined. She could feel the collective glares of the observers.

"FINE! I'll go but if I get a cold you all will pay," Max yelled, she took a rod about the same size as her wand and took out a duster and started to rub it in one direction to get the charge.

She was applying chakra to get the plastic to keep the charge and switch the actual charge so it would repel the water not attract it and make the static field strong enough to move water.

She dipped the rod toward the water and smirked when a dent appeared as if an invisible sphere was pressing down on it. That meant the plan was working. Taking a deep breath, she threw the shield into the air. As it made its return journey down courtesy of gravity, Max jumped on it as it fell towards the water like she was snowboarding.

She entered the water without a splash. The water being displaced by the hydrophobic static field she had created and swelled into the void she had created as she dropped through the water staying dry. She had reflexively started to breath shallowly to preserve the oxygen in her area.

There was a small thunk as the shilf hit the lake bed. Max stepped casually off the shield and picked it up to take with her. She started to walk toward where she figured the hostages would be. She had no clue who her hostage was and would only find out when she found him or her.

As she walked across the bed of the lake, she started thinking of her plan to get back to the surface. She assumed it would have been better to think about it before she jumped in headfirst as she normally did.

It didn't take her long to reach the statue with the hostages, she wasn't sure how to react when she saw her hostage. She stuck with amusement.

"How the hell did they get Itachi?" Max wondered, they wouldn't stand a chance against any of the ninjas let alone Itachi. She shrugged and cut the bonds. She could see the other two hostages there waiting and left a kunai to allow the other two champions to cut their hostages free. She took a hold of Itachi and hoisted him onto her shoulder slightly weighed down from the weights he normally wore.

Max then disrupted the charge from the plastic causing the sphere of air to rise towards the surface taking herself an Itachi with it. Max moulded chakra to keep herself from sinking through the bottom of the bubble. She jumped above the water line just before the bubble popped around her so she could avoid getting wet.

"You're back... with your hostage… and completely dry."

"Don't sound so surprised," Max said as she dropped Itachi on the jetty, then she hoisted herself up.

"Why isn't he awake?" Max demanded, she couldn't really kick his ass while he was asleep.

"He isn't supposed to wake up until the hour has passed or he is removed from the water after that hour has passed."

"You have no faith in my abilities," Max sighed as she sat down her legs dangling over the side.

"You are only fourteen," said Dumbledore as if it solved everything

"I'M FIFTEEN!" Max yelled, she wasn't that short or immature.

"My apologies we had no idea when your birthday was so didn't know if it had passed"

"You're a bad liar, I was fifteen at the beginning of this school year. I all but announced it when Naruto was taking the piss out of my height. Especially when he's shorter than me," said Max stressing the last few words in Japanese and glaring at Naruto.

"By a few inches!"

"To miss by and inch or a mile is still a miss," said Max sagely. Then she disappeared in a puff of smoke alarming the wizards.

"Where did she go?"

"Away from the people who were making her the centre of attention," said Laura as she headed to Itachi to make sure he hadn't sustained any damage, it would be typical of Max to disappear without checking. She probably just wanted to get out of the public attention.

"She seemed quite the attention seeker before," reminded Dumbledore.

"That was on her own terms not a bunch of idiots crappy terms," explained Laura as if she were talking to a bunch of five year olds.

Max however hadn't left. She was just invisible to everyone, the smoke had simple covered her light bending jutsu. She had not forgotten about her old partner she just hadn't wanted to stay in the lime light any longer than necessary.

* * *

The hour finished up and Itachi was instantly alert his Sharingan blazing. Max couldn't help but snigger, Itachi had obviously been caught of guard. She stopped when she was glared at, she didn't want him to blow her hiding place.

After the three champions had gotten their scores, they were allowed to leave and do what ever they wanted until the next one. Max now had a grand total of fifty-seven points after getting full marks for the second task. She had done everything that was expected of her in the time limit.

Now she was sitting outside the wards waiting for the next day to come so she could leave. She didn't want to spend more time in the place where people would no doubt bug her. That and the people back in Japan would probably be wondering were she was. She didn't notice someone watching her, worrying about her.

* * *

Review please


	34. Pranks that were never seen coming

Redone (19/7/10)

* * *

While Max had been in Japan before the second task Laura hadn't just been sitting around idly, she had been plotting. The impending doom that Max had felt at any given point was her fault.

Her first idea hadn't been so bad. She had just changed the colour of most of the food. No one ate the dark brown mashed potatoes or the bright yellow drink. It was a shame since it was Red bull and it would have been so funny to have hyperactive first years.

Her second idea didn't go so well. Making the teachers cross-dress should never be done… ever. Laura was planning to make the students cross dress in a few months when she finished some more research.

The next one was really funny, Laura had almost gotten caught because she was laughing so much. What ever a teacher said would appear written in the air behind them no mater how quietly they spoke. Laura had given them all different handwriting and colours. Snape had naturally had the pink flowery handwriting. Dumbledore's was reminiscent of a German accent for some bizarre reason. For some reason McGonagall's writing was not only in tartan but actually wrote a Scottish accent.

Her last plan was about to play out, this would be her greatest achievement of the term far outstripping anything that others had thought of.

It was dinner and everyone was in the great hall eating. Ron as usual looked like a pig at chow time. No wonder the Gryffindor students never had an appetite. The hall figured something was up though when some music began to play. There were a few sniggers as some muggleborns recognised the tune. Then Hermione began to sing.

"The internet is really really great," she sang.

"For porn," added Ron quickly with his mouth still full of food. Hermione glared at him.

"I've got a fast connection so I don't have to wait," Hermione continued. The song went on and Neville, Seamus and Dean were dragged in for the later part. The Slytherin could barley contain their laughter, many of the Gryffindor students couldn't and the Bulgarian students didn't even try. McGonagall looked ready to explode.

"I expected more from my fourth years! Detention for all five of you," she yelled.

"Professor it can't have been their fault, they don't even know what porn is," one of the older Gryffindor students piped up sending another wave of sniggers around the room.

Operation internet for porn was complete.

* * *

Two days later, there was announcement at dinner.

"I would like to ask students not to keep asking our muggle studies teacher about the internet. If you want to learn about it then you should have signed up for it," Dumbledore announced.

Laura smirked, this had worked better than she had expected. She began plotting for her next plan.

She had been doing some sensible things as well as causing chaos. She had noticed that Moody was a fake and planed on ousting him when she could be bothered. Too early and someone else might become the spy, at least with Moody she knew who it was.

She had also been plotting for how to get Max to turn up for any point during the rest of the year. She wasn't going to fall for the same trick as the one she had planed for second task. She could fake an emergency as Max was supposed to be protecting Hogwarts despite the clause that Max had added saying she could go places for small terms of time to conduct other business.

Laura sat at the blue and bronze table watching Hermione berate Ron about eating with his mouth constantly open. She smiled as she shot a spell at Ron and laughed at the look on his face as the food on his plate began to grow legs and wander off.

One of the chicken legs was rubbing itself against Hermione like a kitten. Another decided it wanted too, so it ended up with two chicken legs trying to fight. It was quite amusing. What was just as funny was when a lump of peas decided it wanted to fly. It failed.

"Interesting spell, it's a variation of a charm that donac's use to train their young to hunt," came a dreamy voice beside her. Laura knew it was Luna without even turning her head.

"Hi Luna, how are you today?" asked Laura carefully watching the Gryffindor table for analysis on what the prank was doing exactly.

"Fine, I only had to find one of my shoes today, the nargles seem to be less active, so they're probably beginning to hibernate," answered Luna. Laura knew the real reason; she had gotten annoyed and threatened the people who usually took the stuff. She was pretty infamous about her pranks, her jokes tended to be more subtle than the twins were.

"So nargles hibernate, when you're older you should write a book about these creatures, you seem quite the expert."

"I might but it would probably be thought of as fictiona… someone has a book of death," Luna said cutting up her first thought.

"A what?" Laura asked worriedly. The book of death could be a death note but it had been destroyed.

"It's a book that belongs to a shingami to kill humans to extend their own life spans. They sometimes give it to humans for fun. A shingami just entered the hall." That sounded like a Death Note to Laura

"What do shingami look like?" asked Laura curiously.

"I don't know, I can't see them, I just can sense them," said Luna vaguely. Laura could tell she knew more than she was letting on. After being able to tell when Max was hiding something, Luna was no trouble. Laura noticed some of the mashed potato was getting too friendly with the carrots and quickly cancelled the charm before things got intimate.

"It was just getting to the good bit," whined Luna. Laura rolled her eyes and then got thinking what she would do next. She supposed she should get around to doing her schoolwork but after looking at it decided not to. It was boring and simple, why people found it so hard was beyond her.

* * *

The term carried on, Laura was bored to tears. Max had made the place lively but everyone was being polite to the foreign students and not doing anything that could be considered rude.

The other ninjas had been scarcely seen, for one they didn't want to be pranked and for two it was getting to crowded for their likings, with foreigners they preferred to observe for a while before joining them.

That and they had been warned about death eater spies and didn't want to catch their attention. Naruto was particularly creeped out by some of the Bulgarians, they seemed so serious. Not like the fun loving people who had resided in Hogwarts.

Speaking of Sirius, he had taken to drinking since Harry had gone, he blamed himself even though he had been repeatedly told that it was Dumbledore's fault by Laura and letters from Harry.

He had yet to notice his alcohol was actually apple juice but since he was used to pumpkin juice he had no idea. Laura was defiantly cunning when she wanted to be. She had no idea how much Max outstripped her though, she had noticed Max subtly pushing her and Sasuke together. She didn't mind but she would get her revenge and some plots tended to be embarrassing. She wondered what the team was doing.

Sasuke was doing what he normally did, brooding over the death of his family, he did it in secret because last time he did he regretted it.

_Flashback to a couple of days ago_

"_What are you doing little brother?"_

"_Uh… nothing." Brooding might be a sign of weakness._

"_Good then you can spar with me, Max isn't here for me to beat and the others are doing productive things, not thinking about the past," said Itachi throwing a kunai as a challenge. Sasuke never backed down from a challenge. So threw one in return._

_End flashback_

Itachi wondered if the bollocking he got from Laura about trying to kill each other in front of the school was worth it. It was worth it last time and winding up Sasuke was so easy.

Yes, it was defiantly worth it. But maybe Max was rubbing of on him a bit, normally he wouldn't find taunting his brother this much fun.

Shikamaru was staring at the stars trying to decide whether he should bother to get up and go inside, it was cold but he was to lazy to move.

Naruto never wanted to move again, his stomach was in so much pain. The kitchens were amazing but he had defiantly eaten too much. The elves were defiantly his best friends in the magical world.

Ino was watching the house elves scurry around the castle. She had made it some training, the house elves would disappear if the knew they were being watched. She could practice stealth and become a better ninja.

Akamaru was training Kiba to be a better master. They had been practicing in the forest away from as many prying eyes as they could avoid. The trees were the main casualty.

Laura was sitting in a tree reading a book, since she had entered this dimension she had spent some little time on reading fiction. She had decided to catch up now to get inspiration for her next lot of pranks.

Despite none of them showing it, all of the ninjas missed Max. The two that knew details of her missions in Japan were worried for here and both of them worried about her safety. They both were wondering if she would come back in one piece. Max seemed to have a blatant disregard for her own safety. As shown when she proved Light to be Kira. She could have been killed if she had underestimated the powers.

* * *

After the second task, Laura sat in a tree watching Max as she waited for the portkey to activate. Laura could tell that trouble was going to find Max, it always did.

Max sat clueless to everything going on around her. She just wanted to go back to Japan, things always seemed calmer there.

Laura jumped down to join her for a bit.

"I bet you want to know how they got Itachi," smirked Laura. Max returned the smirk.

"The portkey that was supposed to bring him back got altered and Dumbledore ambushed him as it landed" Laura said her smirk widening as she saw the gleam in Max's eye. The Ex-ANBU removed something from her pocket.

"I don't care how you do it but get this into Dumbledore's drink," Max explained handing it over.

"What does it do?"

"Wait, see and laugh." Were Max last words before the portkey activated. Laura sighed, Max knew how to make an exit.

* * *

Max landed in her room in Japan and was just grateful that no one had broken in to find her gone. She did notice a piece of paper on her bed and took back the whole thing about someone breaking in. The note hadn't been there when she left. She checked it for spells, contact poison, traps or similar. When the tests came up negative Max opened the thing cautiously and scanned the content.

After reading it several times to make sure she had read it correctly she threw it at the bed and sighed. It was from the host club, they had gotten record takings when she had been making her appearance as Mu and they requested she help again.

Of course, this was in fancy words and upper class language, and full of hints and threats of blackmail. Max sighed again and flopped down on her bed, she would have to tread carefully not to be coerced into this. She would not want to have to entertain girls again, she really had to take her hat of to Haruhi, she managed it as a girl. She deserved a medal not only for being a host but dealing with the hosts themselves.

Max was kicked out of her thought by the doorbell. Max remembered she did actually have a doorbell it was just no one bothered to use it. Applying her Mu Henge as she went Max walked to the door dragging her feet acting slightly tired. At the door, surprise surprise, were the hosts. As usual, Mu tried to shut the door and as usual, she failed.

"I don't want any damn Girl Guide cookies," Mu said and tried again to shut the door. The hosts all had confused looks but it didn't stop them from preventing the door from closing.

"We want you to beco…" started the tall blond one.

"No" Mu interrupted.

"I hadn't finish…"

"The answers still no," Mu said. It was like training a dog, you had to be firm and stand by your actions never showing weakness.

"I have a proposal fo…"

"No."

"You haven't heard it yet."

"Do I need to hear it to reject it?" asked Mu, she was really getting impatient.

"Yes, so you know wha…"

"The answers still going to be no."

"Can I finish my senta…?"

"Nope." Mu was trying so hard to keep a straight face by now. She failed and burst out laughing. The hosts looked at her as if she was a few flowers short of a bouquet and automatically backed away as if it was contagious. Mu took the opportunity to shut the door.

* * *

Back at Hogwarts, it was dinnertime. Laura had succeeded in getting the item into Dumbledore drink. She was watching intently for signs of the effects of the item.

It was when Laura saw Dumbledore shift uncomfortably in his seat she figured it was a laxative of some sort. She wasn't far off, it was industrial strength laxative, the same kind Louise used in interrogation sometimes. Everyone watched in confusion as Dumbledore dashed out of the room. Everyone except Laura and any ninjas that were watching.

The tension was high with the Durmstang students, the third task was approaching, one of the champions was missing, and none of that champions group were taking things seriously. The Hogwarts students were used to this but still on edge, no one actually knew what Max had done for the second task.

A few months passed and the Third task was rapidly approaching. Laura had found an idea to get Max to turn up. Then later she found out that Max would have finished her stint in Japan anyway. Now she had to get Max to turn up to the actual task.

* * *

Review please


	35. How the Third Task goes wrong

over 100,000 words.

Wow.

I'm shocked, I never thought I would get even near this.

I'm not shocked enough to not update though. I've had more inspartation for plot points so this will definatly be a long story.

For translations look at the bottom of this page.

--

Max was not happy, she was back at Hogwarts. It was still a month and a half until the final task. Max wasn't exactly acting like the champion she was portrayed as. She wasn't surprised to hear that the odds for her to win were very low.

A few days before the task Laura had asked Max to help her with a spell.

It didn't go so well.

_Flashback_

_Max and Laura were in the room of requirement attempting a new spell they had found; it was supposed to give the target an atomic wedgie. There was a dummy they were using as a target._

_For some reason they couldn't get it to even spark. Laura sighed and tried one more time, in her impatience she pronounced it wrong and it bounced of the wall hitting Max straight in the face. Max was catapulted into the wall behind them._

"_You'd think the room would have given me a soft landing" Max complained as she got up. Laura walked over to see if there was any damage. There weren't any bruises but as Max blinked under the scrutiny Laura noticed something._

"_You're left eye's turned red, just the iris not the entire eye but it looks creepy with your grey eye."_

"_That's the last time I stay in the room when you're testing a new spell," muttered Max as she transfigured a quill into a mirror to inspect the new colour._

_End flashback_

The amount of people she managed to creep out with the now mismatched eye was funny. Seriously, Max had sent several first years to the hospital wing with nightmares. She blamed Dumbledore but never elaborated.

The day before the third task was nerve wracking for everyone. Except Max of course, many people wondered if that girl was ever fazed by even the worse conditions. She was being more paranoid than usual though, this made the school even more on edge.

The day of the final task started out normally. That's until Max stumbled into the great hall for breakfast. She had dark bags around her eyes and was slurring her words as she staggered over to the Slytherin table and slouched face down onto her empty plate.

It took mere seconds for the entire hall to realise Max was completely drunk. The bottle of amber liquid in her hand was a give away. That and the strange humming she could hear was Max humming the Mission Impossible theme tune.

"Max, stop with the humming or I will spork you to death," said Laura glaring.

"Promishes, 'romishes, you couldn't even lan' a foon on me" Max slurred. Itachi walked into the hall just then and saw the state that Max was in. He sat next to her and dumped cold water over to try to sober Max up.

It only got Max annoyed.

"Don' make me get my foon" Max threatened wielding a toasting fork.

"Foon?" questioned one of the random students.

"Fork spoon, kinda the same as a spork" explained and older kid next to him.

"You do know it's the third task today," said Itachi to the damp Max.

"Yup, why else would I 'ave finished my secret supply of alcohomahozle?" grinned Max goofily, catching herself just before she slid of the table.

"But wasn't your supply big enough to get everyone in this school drunk"

"It was, i'sh all gone now, would deine believe it took mich over se'en thirds of it to get pished," said Max sadly mourning the loss of her drink, Laura could tell she was more then drunk, other languages were starting to bleed into her sentences. Max ignored the fact that there was another bottle in her pouch and she had a half empty bottle in her hand. She took a swig from the aforementioned bottle and sighed contently.

Dumbledore stood up to make his announcement. Max had to restrain from throwing something at him. The restraint didn't last as a lump of potassium landed in his goblet and exploded the area of the table. It was a large lump of the metal.

"If every one would please make you way over to the Quiddich stand to observe the third tasks, any champions should head to the changing rooms," said Dumbledore clearing up the mess with a wave of his wand. Max groaned and disappeared from her seat.

She normally wouldn't use a jutsu when intoxicated but even with the amount she had consumed she had mastered shushin while drunk. It had taken loads of practice, loads of booze and loads of dented walls.

She was given the brief lowdown of the task and then they were led onto the pitch with the maze the sunlight shining down as if they were in a spot light.

"In first place so far is Viktor Krum, so he will be let into the maze on my first whistle, then Cedric Diggory on the second then finally Maxine Hakie last," announced the person who announced these things. Max had reacted on the word Maxine and had her wand pointed under the announcers chin.

"My mistake, _Max_ Hakie will go on the third whistle" was the strained amendment. Max retuned to her place to await her signal.

The first whistle blew and Krum entered the maze. Max was straining to stay awake. In the stands Laura was wondering how to sober Max up from her seat, nothing came to mind.

The second whistle blew and Diggory entered the maze. The ninjas in the stand were on edge, something was going to happen during this, Dumbledore never missed a chance to influence Max.

The third and final whistle blew and Max entered the maze staggering slightly. Itachi sat on the top of one of the tower stands his Sharingan watching the crowd and the maze looking out. He figured Max was going to do something stupid so was prepared to move at a moments notice.

Max came to the first fork and had to make a decision, so she used the scientific way.

"eenie meenie minie moozilses" Max chanted and picked the left fork despite the rhyme landing on the right fork. In the distance, she noticed a black hairy blob, but then again most things were blobs to her at the moment. As she got closer, she noticed its eight legs.

"Whoa that'sh one huge assh spider, did they give it shteroids?" Max wondered. She didn't know that everything said in the maze was magically made louder so people in the stands could hear.

"Oh look it's a puny human, did they feed it growth inhibiting drugs?" answered the spider sarcastically.

"Come on, I'm not that schmall, just because I'm not the firsht to know when it be raining, and nor do I need an warning if ich revershe does nicht mean I'm punicle" retorted Max, the spider was mortally offended and frozen in shock, no one talked to her like that.

"I'll have you know as a mother of five hundred I just haven't gotten my figure back," said the spider indignantly.

"What figure? You have a damn exoshelliton, the only way for you to have a figure is if you shed"

"How dare you insult me?"

"Easily, I drink a ton of alcohomohozle then open my mouth" said Max walking past while the spider gaped. Max was well out of sight by the time the spider had recovered. The crowd were stunned, the girl had defeated the spider without using a spell or even magic.

Max carried on in her path blasting a hole when she couldn't be bothered to back track. It felt like a good half an hour before she bumped into another champion. It was Krum.

"You wan' shome?" Max offered her bottle of booze to him. Krum raise an eyebrow and moved on past her. Max looked in the direction he had come from and the direction her was going and turned so one of the sides and blasted a hole.

The other side of the hole in all its glory was the triwizard cup. Max wasn't the only one who had found it though. Diggory was to her left fighting off the huge spider. The same one Max had pissed off earlier. Max stumbled through the hole gathering the attention of both boy and spider. Both wanted to stop her for one reason or another.

Max was frozen thinking 'oh crap' like a deer in the headlights. She dashed towards the cup. Diggory and the spider following her not wanting her to reach the cup before them. The spider was doing this out of spite. Max and Diggory reached the cup at the same second and touched it in unison.

Max's bottle of alcohol flew through the air as the two champions disappeared. The bottle shattering brought the crowds attention to what had happened. Itachi and Laura were already there inspecting the scene.

"Portkey" Laura denounced from the scene. The bottle must have slipped through Max's fingers when the portkey whisked the champions away. Laura was confused; Harry wasn't a champion, why would the cup be a portkey?

Itachi wasn't sure what to feel, his partner was in an unknown place completely drunk out of her skull. This was bad who knew what was going to happen. The deep sense of foreboding was back in full force and the space where the cup was looked at them ominously.

Max flew a few feet from the cup as it landed, she shakily got up and checked herself over and the place she was in. Stereotypical creepy graveyard. She checked over Diggory as he groaned. Her movements were jerky and unpredictable; she was surprised she could sit on the floor without holding on let alone stand and walk.

"We need the girl. Kill the boy" Max heard through her hazy hearing. Acting on instinct Max pushed Diggory at the up transporting both cup and boy back to Hogwarts.

"Foolish move girl" the voice was a bit clearer, it was defiantly a female voice. Max reached for her alcohol only to find it gone, she scrambled around to look for it.

"My booze ish gone" Max mourned. The alcohol had made her forget about the bottle in her pouch.

"You look too young to be drinking"

"You look too old to be living," retorted Max automatically. She ducked to try to see if she missed the bottle when looking; the spell sent at her flew harmlessly over her head.

"Such insolence, you will be hard to break"

"Think impishible, not hard," said Max in a mock wise voice.

"Nothing is impossible for my master"

"How many time' have I heard dat before" Max said snarkily.

"No one has defied my master and lived"

"coughHarrycough" Max choked out, then started choking anyway.

"Ah, young Harry, he was a great help in resurrecting the dark lord, unfortunately he got away. He learnt some interesting things from young Harry's mind some about you and your powers"

"You're lying, diene lippen ist rücken" accused Max pointing at the woman, then falling over as the arm she pointed with had been holding her up.

"How else would he know that you and 'Ookami' are the same person? The dark lord will find you a great addition to his followers"

"Man, did you know he's the second shnake obsessed freak to fragen me dat. The other ones pretty pisshed off with me though"

"You will not turn down this offer when my lord gets here," threatened the woman.

"As long as I have my booze I can do anything," proclaimed Max taking out her last bottle of alcohol.

"Is that so?" asked a lower more snake like voice.

"Ok, pointsh for not sounding like ein paedophile but not points for the cliché" said Max unscrewing the cap of her green bottle and taking a swig.

"Bind her hands, it's how she does her spells" Max staggered out of the way of the spell and put her hands in a quick seal.

"Kai" she muttered focusing so it would work, then she let the alcohol take her again.

"Ha, it didn't work," gloated Bella.

"You don't even know what I did, I could have turned you hair Gelb and you wouldn't think to check" Max laughed as the woman frantically checked.

"Calm yourself Bella," ordered the snake voice. Max wished her vision wasn't so blurry. The she could use more insult based of looks.

"Wait Bella assh in Bellatrix Lestrange" slurred Max, she was feeling the impending doom. She dodged another few spell when Lestrange realised Max had tricked her.

"So Max, I wish for you to join me, you could be powerful, if only you would sit by my right hand"

"Heyll no, so you right hand can touch me up you paedophile, no way, beshides I don' need to join some shnake freak to be powerful"

"You will regret that decision"

"Well it was nishe meeting you guys but I must dash, I have a tournamenticle to muck up" said Max brightly before turning to where the cup had been then remembering she had sent the cup back with Diggory. Cursing her memory Max sent a few spells at the two.

"I'm sho screwed" Max said and shushined as far as she could in her current inebriated state. At least she would hear them coming, she had charmed them with music. Quite fittingly Voldemort had 'I'm a Barbie girl' where as Lestrange had 'Masochism tango'.

Back at Hogwarts Laura noticed an owl approaching, her. Hedwig. the bird held out a letter ladened leg. Laura took the letter that was offered and quickly read it.

_Voldemort caught up with me and Draco in Kanto, no one hurt but he wants Max, He know of her power and wants it on his side. Don't let her take part in the third task it's a trap the cups a port key._

Laura grimaced, the warning was too late, Max was still gone, she just hoped Max would make it out alive. Itachi read the letter over her shoulder and smirked Max would never let some one use her like that. But then again what lengths had Orochimaru gone to try to get it.

Back with Max. She was running for her life. Last time she had shushined she had run into a tree, she was in no state to be using chakra or magic now. She probably had concussion and was quite frankly amazed she was awake, it was a mix of adrenaline and determination driving her on.

Each place she stopped she left a marker and a few traps before moving on and a random direction. Even in her current state, her ANBU training showed through. The chase went on day and night, Max stayed just ahead of them she knew she wouldn't last long she hadn't slept in who knows how long.

Max reached into her pouch for a soldier pill only to find none left. Her bottle was empty and the sun was looking to rise for a new day. The last thing she saw was the sun peaking through the treetops.

--

Translations - German to English

Ich – I

Nicht - not

Deine – your

Meine – my

Fragen – ask

Gelb – yellow

Diene lippen ist rücken – your lips are moving

The rest is slurred English

--

Please reveiw


	36. Sometimes it's just one of those days

If I take a while to update its because I have school work that takes priority, I have to pass my exams and some are in January, its closer than it seems.

Luckily I have no coursework for the moment. I passed one of my tests so I don't get kicked of the course. My coursework wasnt so good but I hate coursework. I have a list of things I missed out so next peice I do I can refer to the list and do better.

--

Waking with a hangover is never the best feeling, but it was one Max knew all to well. She at first thought her vision was gone but the realised it was just really dark. FA was useless with a hangover, the headache kept her from concentrating on her technique.

She did a quick check over herself. Both false teeth were in place. She had modified them. Instead of a poison capsule was high explosive, enough chakra enhanced stuff to blow up a mile radius, this way she could take out the person with her.

The other one had part of a bezoar in case she was poisoned, after doing research it also could neutralise most harmful potions and lessen the affects of others. It had been installed the last time Dumbledore had tried to drug her. They all were back teeth and needed Max to do something specific to activate them.

She was considering adding a hangover potion some time soon.

"I wonder whose going to kill me first, Laura: for doing something stupid. Itachi: same reason as Laura. Or Tsunade: for drinking on a mission." Max mused aloud.

"I wonder how drunk I was to even consider drinking before the last task" Her throat was killing her after her little musation. She tried to remember what had happened between getting drunk and now.

All she could remember was the sun rising then the world going black. She had no idea how she manage the last task. She figured she had been captured but no idea who by, so many people after her hide she figured it was probably Voldemort. He was nearest.

There were drums in her ears as each small sound was magnified a million times. It helped Max more then she knew as she overheard a conversation that sounded miles away.

"So when do we tell Harry we have his friend?"

"Patience Bella, all in due time" Max realised the implications; they wanted to use her as bait for Harry. However, it wasn't as if she was going to hang around long enough for that to happen. That and the dark lord wouldn't survive the week. Max had already set her plan in motion.

Max tried to stand to get a better idea of the room she was in, only to find out her hands and feet were tied. Her hands were tied in a specific way so she couldn't make a seal.

The door opened and Max was blinded by the brightness. She could see clearly instead of like earlier when everything was blurry. That was probably the alcohol though from whenever she had been drunk. She didn't know what day it was so it may not have been yesterday.

She wasn't surprised to see the dark lord walk in, followed by of course, some death eaters. The Dark lord's mouth curled into a smirk. This seemed to be some sort of signal as the death eaters approached her and lifted her up by her arms. Max really wished she had left her weights on for the third task just to piss them off.

The dark lard walked over to her, withdrew a potion from his pocket, and forced it down her throat.

"In five minutes you will be under my control. I find spells can be thrown of too easily, don't you" said the Dark lord chuckling as if he had said a joke.

"I threw off a mind altering curse, one that is supposedly impossible to, what makes you think this is any different," sneered Max. She was twisting her hands around to try to form a seal, any seal.

"You will not escape me; I am Lord Voldemort, your master. Who is you master?"

"Lord Voldemort. Wait, What!" Max was panicking, her voice had betrayed her.

"I lied, it works in mere seconds" chuckled Voldemort evilly.

"Well that makes a refreshing change," said Max as she continued to squirm her hands.

"Stop fidgeting" ordered the Dark lord. Max froze and groaned. Voldemort smirked and motioned for his death eaters to untie her feet.

"Follow me," he commanded and Max followed, feeling as if her feet were betraying her.

Max was taken to the main part of the hideout and given her job. There was no way of getting out of it. Max needed to wait a minimum of two hours to be able to expel the potion. Unless she found some way of over coming it. Spells were easy, so were seals, they were mainly mental or in a certain place. Potions got into the system and spread quickly.

"Return back in six hours for your next dose" Max hid her smirk, she would be scot free in a couple of hours. That was until she felt something being put around her neck. A collar.

"This will make sure you carry out your mission"

"Do you understand your mission?"

"Yes… My Lord" Max spat out, she had struggled but the potion was strong. Her hands were untied and she was let go. She collapsed to the ground.

There was the swirling sensation of a portkey and Max was deposited outside Hogwarts gates where she collapsed. The potion was keeping awake to do her job so she couldn't even sleep. It wasn't long until she was noticed, it appeared that the ninjas had been taking it in turns to watch out for her.

To her luck it was Naruto waiting, she knew he wouldn't ask unwanted questions.

"You're back!" was the only warning she got before she was grabbed into a bone-crushing hug.

"Need to breathe Naruto" Max managed to gasp out, luckily Naruto got the message and let go. She was then dragged up to the castle. She was practically smothered in hugs by the others as she stepped into the castle. She had decided to procrastinate for the two hours it would take to get rid of the potion.

She doubted even a potion could stop her procrastinating.

She was escorted tot the hospital wing for a check up. Max was extremely glad the only time limit she had been given was the six hours. It made her life that bit easier.

Max spent the next two hours in hospital wing meditating trying to convince the potion she would do as instructed later. It felt weird trying to convince a potion of anything but it must have worked.

"I have no master" Max whispered testing the potion. She smirked at the results. She snuck out of the hospital wing toward her room and gapped at what she saw.

Every surface in her room was covered by her bottles of alcohol. Each and every bottle was empty.

"Nooooooo!" Max wailed in anguish. She had spent years collecting the finest alcohol she could. Now she would have to start again.

Her yell had brought most of the ninjas. They should have expected what they saw… they really should have.

"Hey! Wasn't that my bottle of firewiskey" exclaimed Laura looking around the room pointing out a bottle.

Ok, not all of it was Max's.

"If you're well enough to be amazed by the amount of alcohol you consumed prior to the third task then you should be well enough to collect your winnings and maybe tell us what happened," said Snape from the end of the corridor. He managed to take Max by enough surprise to be pined to the wall with a wand pointing at his forehead.

"If by 'well enough' you mean 'haven't slept since three weeks ago 'cept two hours with a hangover', then yes by all means I'm fine" Max growled before releasing her head of house. She headed to the great hall to find them in the middle of dinner. Her head was pounding from the noise.

"Here is our triwizard champion herself. Maxine Hakie of Konoha" announced the person at the head table. Laura had a strange feeling of déjà vu which dissipated at the person collapsed after Max hit him with a stunner.

"Ok then listen up. I did not win this thing; I can't even remember the last part. Anyone says otherwise and they will get dumped in the lake with less than adequate clothing, don't even ask about what happened," threatened Max. She was just about to sit down for some food when she felt a gut wrenching pull similar to that of a portkey and she disappeared from the great hall.

She was immediately taken to a large hall and forced into a kneeling position, she didn't have the power to resist. Her hands were encased in solid steel gloves tied behind her back by one of the masked figures preventing her from using her hands to escape.

"You lied to me! Man, you're the best dark lord I've met so far," said Max sounding in awe. The lack of sleep was making her act weird.

"So you over came the potion" came the hissing voice of the dark lord as he lounged in his throne.

"it wasn't hard, you must tell me who you potion maker is, I must thank them" Max said smiling mockingly. She with hit round the back of her head for it. Her head was bent down, as she did not have the strength to look up. Hangovers followed by portkeying mixed with lack of sleep and food did that to her.

She did how ever see in the better light that the dark lord still had purple in his skin and his eyes were now green like Harry's. Some of her traps had caught him.

"Tell my why I shouldn't kill you"

"Because then I won't tell you something you really want to know" said Max as if she were discussing the weather.

"Like what"

"The power that's going to kill you"

"You lie" a death eater sent a spell at her causing a deep gash across her upper arm.

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be polite to guests but I suppose you aren't the Dork lord for nothing"

Max should have been expecting the punch. She knew this interrogation wouldn't finish without her getting hurt. Not many had.

"You aren't even my enemy yet you cause me more trouble than that Potter boy" Max looked up with a smirk on her grubby face, even with blood dripping from her lip she would remain defiant.

"The prophecy did mention 'a power the dark lord knows not' maybe _you're_ it, the power of a ninja with wolf ears" Max snorted, she highly doubted that was the power. She got a kick in the ribs for it.

"The prophecy mentions 'the dark lord will mark him his equal', it mentioned nothing about no one else being stronger" she rasped. She was taunting him now, the death eaters winced as she was thrown the pain curse. The brightness was more than had been ever cast on them.

"You know what it is, the power, you know of it. Tell me!" ordered the dark lord, getting up and approaching her with his wand he looked deep into her eyes, projecting his mind inside in an attempt to read her mind.

"You can forget it, I know I did," Max said rebelliously. She may not have been prepared for the mental onslaught but she held him away from her theory. Her barriers had been restored to full strength a while ago and she had been adding to them. A spell flung her against a wall and held her there by her throat.

"Your eyes don't match," observed the dark lord smirking.

"Wow the resident dork lord is really observant"

"I'll make them match, by removing them" the spell was released and Max slumped onto the floor.

"Ya know, someone tried that once, they ultimately failed and in turn I removed his life"

She hoped Harry found her clues soon; she wasn't sure how much she could take. She had very little chakra and magic and was physically exhausted. She was just glad insolence came so naturally to her.

She had left the Death Note in a safe place with clues she had told Harry just in case her mission went wrong and this happened. The release she had said when being pursued dissipated the illusion covering it, she was kicked in the ribs again for not paying attention.

"You dare defy the dark lord," hissed a death eater malevolently.

"I've defied more people than I can count on my fingers. Most of them were scarier than this" chuckled Max, the lack of energy was making her giddy making it seem like she was drunk again. Another kick caused Max to fall on to her side. Max coughed out some blood, a gash on her cheek had reopened and she could feel some bruises forming. Many more kicks followed, Max could feel every single one each forming their own bruise. She felt a rib pop out of place followed by another. She ignored the pain, keeping her face neutral. ANBU training defiantly came in handy.

"Bella, stop"

"My lord?"

"I need her conscious so I can get my answers, if she is dead then it's not possible"

"Of course my lord" said Bellatrix meekly.

"Dude, wash your face, brown noser" insulted Max, she would have added a rude gesture but since they were covered in metal it was somewhat hard. Bella went to kick her again.

"I wouldn't do that, if I'm dead then good bye answers, and good bye dork lord. Well the last part anyway" taunted Max mimicking the dark lord, the pain hadn't killed her attitude. Bella withdrew her wand and sent a hex at her. Max felt her left arm break and gritted her teeth in pain.

"Why are you using a wand Bella, I find physically hurting someone helps them break faster"

"Yes my lord" smirked Bella as she walked over to a table. Max couldn't see what was on it but she found out when Bella uncoiled it. Max braced herself for more pain, she was surprised she was still awake. At the tenth hit the edge of her vision was going fuzzy.

"sto…"the dark lord trailed off as he suddenly apperated away.

"Has your lord deserted you?" mocked Max

"He must have had some important news"

"I doubt it, he's going to die"

"Even if your friends kill him, he will come back to life"

"Not this time, he's collecting pieces of his soul as we speak, then he will destroy them then die himself"

"How would you know? Are you a seer?" sneered Bella. She grew slightly worried as the other death eater's disapperated.

"No but I know that the power is making him do this. This is the power of a death god. The power the dork lord knows not and you can't do anything about it. Oh and tell the king of death gods I owe him a drink," Max said. Seconds later Bella collapsed. Max knew her name had been written in the death note.

Max wasn't sure how long she lay there, drifting in and out of awareness trying to keep the pain at bay. She kept her arm as straight as she could so it wouldn't begin to heal wonky.

The hall had been emptied of people and she wondered if they even knew where she was. She could die here. She idly wondered what would happen if she died here. Would she just die or would she end up back in her original universe.

Then she heard voices, she strained to hear them but all she could hear was buzzing and garbled noise.

"Max! Stay awake, you can't sleep just yet" Max couldn't help but close her eyes, she couldn't even tell who was talking she just wanted to sleep for a few weeks. She could feel herself being shaken and was ready to slap them into next week. She felt her bonds being untied and she was lifted up.

"le' me alo'" Max mumbled trying to get comfortable. She tried to ignore the twinges of pain as someone jostled her broken arm. For once she welcomed the darkness just to take away the pain.

--

Please review


	37. Denial is a terrible thing Dumbledore

I've got parents evening coming up soon. dooooom.

Sorry about the time between updates but school work comes first then fanfiction, then biology with _That Woman,_ she can't teach, she really can't. _She_ completely failed at explaining hydrogen bonding. Luckily I did chemistry last year so I knew all about it that and everything else _she_ tried to explain this year. To be honest I reckon an English teacher could teach biology better than _her_. The next two chapters are mapped out and another huge crossover is on its way as well as some fluff and romance. Some other crossovers will be breifly mentioned.

--

Despite not visibly showing it, Itachi was very worried. His old partner/team mate and close friend was lying on a sterile bed in a deep sleep, recovering from injuries that he should have been around to prevent. He was her partner, someone who would cover her back when she went on missions, she would do the same for him.

He hadn't left Max's side since the rescue team had portkeyed into the dark lords hide out. He didn't plan to leave her side until she was conscious.

He wasn't sure why he felt worried. Max always bounced back from injuries, each one he knew of had a story. Every single one kept her going. It was her way of reminding herself to never make the same mistakes again.

He saw her twitch and his heart jumped, was she waking up? He listened to her heartbeat and breathing but sighed disappointedly when they didn't change.

Itachi went to lean back in his chair only to feel a pain in his scalp. Looking for the source he noticed that some how his hair had been entangled with Max's fingers.

"Are you sure you're not a girl Tachi-chan? You hair feels like it" smirked Max dropping her façade of sleeping. Itachi wasn't quite sure what to do, too many of his emotions were conflicting. He was glad she was awake but angry that she put herself in so much danger. To be quite frank it scared him, emotions had rarely been a problem for him. He was just glad he didn't decide to have heart to heart's with unconscious people or Max would have more black mail then she ever dreamed of.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been through a meat grinder, how long have I been out?" Max groaned trying to get comfortable.

"Five days, at least one of those you were on the verge of critical, you've had at least one shinobi by your side so the bumble bee didn't try anything" Itachi failed to mention he had been that ninja, the constant one who never left her side.

"I probably would have gotten more sleep if these beds weren't so damn uncomfortable. These pillows feel like cardboard," complained Max shifting some more on the bed. Itachi was trying to ignore the view of her chest he was getting as she moved, in the hopes he wouldn't start staring or some other things his hormones would do.

"Aw screw it" Max muttered, she pulled her hand which still was entangled in Itachi's hair and some how managed to end up with Itachi as her pillow. She sighed in contentment and Itachi could see her breathing slow as she drifted off to sleep again.

He must have drifted off too, for when he woke he saw Laura putting away a camera.

"You two look so cute," Laura cooed before casting some diagnosis charms on Max.

"She's healed quite a bit, she just needs rest, I assume why you ended up as her pillow, these pillows feel like hard peas," continued Laura trying to keep the silence from dominating the room.

"Can you stop casting that damn spell, it tickles" grumbled Max as she tried to burrow into her pillow… my mistake… as she tried to burrow into Itachi.

"Do you ever let people know when you're awake?" asked Laura contemplating taking another picture.

"No" moaned Max as she tried to get comfortable again, she wasn't having much luck as she managed to roll of the bed.

"You should stay in bed you know," joked Laura helping her up. Itachi stretched the kinks out of his back.

"I'm never going to sleep now, I'm too awake. I blame you all," mumbled Max. She could feel some of the pain from the meeting with the dark lord.

"How do you feel?" asked Laura taking a clipboard from the table near by.

"Fine, I could use a drink though"

"I'll get you a glass of water"

"That wasn't what I meant"

"You aren't allowed alcohol for the next six weeks," reprimanded Laura, Max's face fell. No alcohol, how else would she survive having to stay at Hogwarts? She hadn't got so wasted anywhere else, even when she was younger she had been responsible.

"I'll be seeing you then," said Max as she shushined from the room. Laura turned to Itachi.

"I want you to make sure she doesn't drink. If I find she has I will hold you responsible. If I were you I would follow her, she's probably heading for the nearest pub" smirked Laura. This would be fun. Both left the hospital wing to do various things.

Five minutes later Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing.

"Maxine I'm afraid I need you to…" Dumbledore stopped when he noticed the emptiness of the room. He could have sworn Laura had said Max wouldn't even be awake for the next few days let alone well enough to be moved.

Laura, of course, had lied, she wasn't stupid. Nor was she going to give Dumbledore any opportunities to manipulate Max.

Unlike Laura's prediction Max ha not headed to the nearest pub. She had headed to the forbidden forest, she hadn't done any training in the last few days and felt like immersing herself in sparing against her clone.

It took her three hours to realise that her clone wasn't disappearing when she hit it. It was only then she realised it wasn't her clone. Itachi had henged into her to spar and fool her.

Itachi didn't know that Max had figured it out, that changed when Max began to change tactics to beat him at the spar.

"Tut, tut Tachi-chan, you clearly haven't been practising," taunted Max. Itachi responded by shooting some more fire balls at her.

"You shouldn't be exerting yourself," Itachi reprimanded.

"I'm not" Itachi ignored the double meaning in her words. She was saying she had recovered and that fighting him was easy. They both stepped up the game. It had become like one of their child hood spars. The ones when the winner had the choice to make the loser do something for a day. Yuri had found it a good motive to win. Especially after Max had won and made Itachi wear a dress for a day.

It ended with Max pining Itachi to the ground with several kunai and semi-permanent sticking charms.

"Do you give?" asked Max smugly twirling a kunai around her finger.

"What are your terms?" groaned Itachi, it would probably be a huge blow to his self-image.

"Well I really liked how the nail polished went well with your hair. So you have to wear nail polish tomorrow" Max said. Itachi was sceptical, Max would never let it just be something easy like wearing nail polish. He doubted she would give away her plan. They both headed back to the castle in time for dinner.

The moment they sat at their places at the table Dumbledore stood.

"I have grave news for all of you, it is to my knowledge that Lord Voldemort has returned," he announced sending the room into chaos. Max sighed and stood up.

"That is the biggest pile of bull I've ever heard and I've heard a lot, Voldemort returned for a mere day before perishing at the hand of the power he knows not wielded by Harry Potter, I saw it with my own eyes." Max seethed, daring anyone to say otherwise.

"He hasn't had training though, he isn't old enough" it seemed that Dumbledore wanted a warrant on his head. That reminded Max of third year, didn't they say that they would never take a mission from him ever again. She would have to look into it.

"He didn't need it, the power of a death god is not something you need training for," a collective gasp echoed through the room. She had to one up Dumbledore on scaring the people in the hall. Only Max and Laura actually knew about the death note. The only training had been and quickly written note.

"Voldemort has other ways of returning, he has returned. My sources are infallible," decided Dumbledore. After all he was a respective headmaster whereas she was the kid who turned up drunk to the third task and tended to muck around.

As head of the ninja team Max decided to terminate the mission. The tournament was finished and that's all they had been hired for there for no repercussions would occur. Apparently the Minister for Magic had hired them so Dumbledore couldn't do anything about it.

The other ninjas had found it funny that Itachi was wearing nail polish, the stuff Max had given him he couldn't remove. He hadn't bothered with a Henge as it was to tiring to Henge fingers as they were complex and moved almost constantly. They were staying in London again until they could get a flight back.

Max and Laura were sun bathing on a grassy field near London Bridge. The beginning of May held some rare sunny weather. Knowing English weather it would probably snow tomorrow. They drifted in to a semi sleep, just enjoying the sun.

Both girls were woken by screams filling the air. Above them was a giant green thing. With the words 'Thunderbird 2' painted in white.

In the confusion Max henged into someone less conspicuous, her silver hair would stand out a bit in the long run. She motioned for Laura to move. She would stall the disasters.

She made a few quick hand signs and placed her hands to the ground making it soft and gooey; it would be hart to land on this soft ground.

The pilot in the aircraft was unaware of the problem as they landed. As the lower part began to descend the legs extended. Instead of pushing the craft up, the legs sunk into the bog. As such the lower part couldn't fully descend. Max did another few signs and hardened the earth around the feet of the craft. It was now trapped in the ground, the safety protocol was preventing the lower bay from fully descending.

Max scarpered to the sidelines following some of the slower people. She had bought some time but not much. The thunderbirds had more time to arrive and take control of the situation.

Thunderbird 2 had other ideas as it rose into the air taking out chunks of earth, it repositioned and landed on solid ground. Max was out of ideas by now she would just watch the thing play out. She suppressed the itch to join the fray that she knew would happen.

Laura dragged her away knowing of the temptation to get involved. She knew that Max would end up doing something stupid if left to her own devices near this kind of action.

The ninjas in general were not pleased when they had been told they needed to stay in school until the summer. Despite being American citizens they were still in compulsory education. What made things worse was the fact the girls and boys were being separated. The boys to some place called St Andrews and the girls to St Trinian's. Max could tell Mrs Jones had a hand in this. It's what you get from crossing the Military Intelligence.

Max, Laura, Ino and Hinata stood outside the building watching the taxi speed away.

"Ready to rock this school?" asked Max.

"Hell yea!" the others chorused. Max smirked at them, Hinata wasn't a nervous wreck, Ino wasn't a love struck teen. They had made progress, if only they could change Sakura for the better.

The entered the building to see the secretary leaning back in her chair. Her eyes closed and head bobbing to music. Max motioned at Hinata who stepped forward withdrawing a bullhorn. She put it on the desk and the four girls covered their ears and Hinata pressed down with her elbow.

Normal bullhorns wouldn't have been heard but this was modified by Max, it was capable of shattering glass and being heard five miles away. The room seemed to vibrate until Hinata released the button. The secretary had fallen of her chair from the noise. They could hear rumbling down the stairs and saw a wave of girls stop short of them.

A girl with a black bob stepped forward, she oozed confidence with her steps.

"You must be the new girls; I'm Kelly Jones, head girl"

"Hinata Hyuuga"

"Laura Hakie"

"Ino Yamanaka"

"Maxine Hakie, nice to meet you" Max could tell the girls in front of them were bursting with questions.

"I'll give you the tour then," said Kelly, she shooed the others away and they left with out question.

The tour finished late at night when they were shown to their beds. The ninjas had noticed the cameras around the building and from Max's warning were weary of booby traps. With their training it wasn't hard to avoid them but they were still on their guard.

They survived the night unscathed, how long it would last was up to them.

--

Please Reveiw


	38. The end of a Kira

Yes the chapter is here. I won't bore you with details of my week, it was crap and I'll leave it at that.

--

The four girls had adjusted well to St Trinians. Well… as well as could be expected. Max was thought of as insane, the other tree girls didn't think so, they knew so. Maybe taking a running jump off the roof wasn't such a great idea. Laura was the voice of reason, just not very often. Hinata was the 'blind girl' who could see. Ino was the only one who actually acted like a girl, fawning over boys and the like.

They had managed to avoid streaking, they watched each others backs like the always had at Hogwarts. The only real difference was the fact there was no magic. The girls shuddered to think what would happen if St Trinians was a magic school.

They showed that they wouldn't be pushed around by the other girls. It was no secret they had weapons and expert training. Max had seen to that by spending an afternoon shooting sebon at leaves making them fall to the floor.

They had been there for three weeks before something interesting happened. Well out of the St Trinians norm kind of something. That thing came in the form of an insomniac detective. Max had been slightly worried about her cover being blown until he addressed her as Rho.

At least the girls had the sense to call her that. They figured she was hiding from people and left it alone.

"What do you mean Light managed to get hold of a death note?" Max shrieked, her voice reverberating around the building. She had worked to hard to nail him, TWICE. Now they wanted her to again, well Mu anyway. If she had to make it a fourth then she would just throw in the towel.

"It seemed Misa managed to help him, somehow she regained her memories and found a second one, Mu seems to know more about the case than anyone so he should help." This threw a huge spanner in the works; she would have to tread carefully if Misa was involved.

At that moment a snowy owl flew in the window and perched on Max's arm offering her a package. Max just wanted to curl up in a ball to avoid the questions. She took the package but didn't untie it, she knew what it was.

Her own death note. It wouldn't be wise to open it now with the detective who was trying to take someone else with one down. It was bad enough it was delivered by an owl, not your average messenger.

"I have a proposal for you, if you manage to persuade everyone I should be allowed to go to Japan to work on this and track down Mu to ask for his assistance, and then we will help you"

"Already done, you just need to get any things you need and find Mu"

"You assumed I would say yes, what if I had said no?"

"You didn't, so I see no problem"

"I can see how you annoyed Psi," grumbled Max, she hightailed it up the stairs and quickly briefed the others and grabbed some items she would need. Rem hovered around L when she came back down stairs.

Max had claimed that Mu was in America, she wanted to throw L of their track. Last time they had been needed they had been in England. To be so again would be suspicious.

Once again they were in Dublin airport. Bad weather had grounded their flight. Max had expected to see Artemis and she wasn't disappointed. She was just glad L and Artemis hadn't met, her head might explode from the intelligence.

Artemis was the only fictional character she saw. A skeleton with a girl ran passed, she heard the names, 'Valkyrie Cain' and 'Skulduggery Pleasant'. So… the world was in danger once again, and today she really couldn't be bothered to help them. She was busy attempting to keep some old business finished. Rem watched the two run passed in amusement.

They finally got to America and Max made quick work of finding Mu. She didn't want to waste too much time. So Mu meat them at the airport feigning instinct that something bad was about to happen. Max had requested a fake passport for Mu a while back as a precaution and managed to get it soon enough.

"You and Mu will be required to go to Ouran again," L said offhandedly when the group departed from Tokyo international airport. Max had long since shifted back to Mu and Rho was a clone. Mu glared at the detective while Rho laughed. The walked to the hotel since Mu decided to be difficult, she said it would be good for L's complexion. They stopped at a crossroad waiting for the traffic to stop when they saw a man run in front of a car dashing towards them.

The car was faster than he expected and the trio watched in horror as the man bounced limply over the car. Mu snapped out of her daze and ran over to the man. The car behind had stopped just short of the man allowing Mu to not have to watch him be run over.

She turned the head to see his face only to be shocked. Lying on the ground in front of her was Light Yagami.

"I come all the way to Japan to catch you, only to see you get hit by a car" Mu grumbled, she didn't particularly want to help save his life but instinct kicked in as she checked the man for injuries. In the side on collision he had fractured three ribs and broken his left femur and had concussion plus what ever internal injuries she couldn't see.

An ambulance quickly appeared on the scene.

"Three fracture ribs, broken femur and concussion" announced the paramedic. Mu smirked proudly, it immediately left her face when the paramedics looked panicked.

"His heartbeats all over the place, blood pressure is dropping rapidly. I think the aorta had been ripped by one of the fractured ribs, he won't make it." Mu was gobsmacked, after all this time all he did was get hit by a car and like that Kira was gone. So anticlimactic.

It got better; it was a drunk driver who hit him, one of the law breakers that Kira was so dedicated to taking down.

"So that clears up the case, I guess we can go back to doing what we were before hand" said Rho as she watched as the body was taken away.

"It appears so," conceded L. They went to hospital to confirm he was dead and not faking it.

Mu and Rho ended up going to Ouran for a week, Mu had spent most of it hiding, fan girls were scary, the break hadn't made them anymore docile, only more ravenous

Max never ended up back to England, she had been assigned a new 'mission'. A dowager queen of a small country was meeting her granddaughter to tell her of her heritage. The queen wanted her granddaughter to be protected before she could place bodyguards without arising questions. So Max was off to America.

Max stood outside her new school; Garden Grove High School. She pulled at her skirt and was glad none of the other ninjas were around. She hated skirts, she was too active to sensibly wear one and not flash her underwear. At St Trinians she hadn't bothered with uniform, she had worn what she normally wore.

"Are you lost?" Max jumped as she heard a voice behind her. She turned to see two girl both taller than herself. She wasn't all that tall really but still.

"No, I'm new here but I know my way around, I'm Max, Max Hakie"

"I'm Lily and this is Mia, nice to meet you. You don't come from around here." the introductions were a bit abrupt and sharp more of a statement than a question.

"I come from near Colorado Springs but I've travelled a bit" Max said. She had another book to add to her growing list. However, from the name of the school it would follow the movies and not the book.

Things went well from there Max was on her best behaviour. It wasn't that good though, she wasn't used to the American schooling system, English: yes, Japanese: just about, American: no clue. It didn't help that she would get distracted.

She had managed to annoy Lana; she had made a comment about Max's silver hair and red eye; Max had found a way to retract her wolf ears so she hadn't bothered with a henge. The blond cheerleader ended up with ink down her top from a flicked ink cartridge.

Back in St Trinians Laura was plotting. With all of the matchmaking Max had done for her she thought it would only be fair if she did some herself. She figured that Max and Itachi were either really dense or completely oblivious.

Ok they were the same things so they may just be in denial, Max probably was. Laura remembered Max's last boyfriend, which had been the biggest muck up of Max's life.

Laura forced herself to think of less depressing things like how to get Max to stop being oblivious and Itachi to make a move sooner rather than later.

She would need to talk to a few people but she had an idea. One that would go down in history as the best plot to get two people together. She would have to talk to Tsunade though.

Across the city at St Andrews Sasuke sat in a tree trying to figure out how to get Laura's attention. Most people would go to an older sibling but Sasuke had seen how oblivious to his own feeing Itachi was, so he had a slight problem.

Tsunade sat at her desk grinning, she knew all about the matchmaking schemes despite them taking place on a different planet, she had this vibe. She felt it was good for them it let them practice their plotting and secrecy. That and she had been the master of matchmaking as a teen.

Max sat in detention, she had gotten a lecture which she had ignored, she probably would have many more in her time. By the time she could leave it was past five. Back at the flat she was residing in for the time being she turned on the TV, she didn't make a move to do any homework. She had clones hanging around to do her job.

The phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hello, suicide hotline, you call means a lot to us. Please hold" Max answered, absolutely no one knew her number so it was probably a telemarketer.

"…" Max only heard the dial tone and smirked satisfied.

It took Max three weeks to adjust to being back in an English speaking school. Too many times she had reverted to Japanese by accident. She had become decent friends with Mia and Lily, after the ink cartridge incident it would be hard not to.

Max had found it quite funny to pop up randomly behind them. Mia seemed a bit edgy, Max figured it was the princess deal.

It was too bad she was called back to Colorado Springs before the main part happened. The grandmother had dropped the bombshell and the news had leaked out so Max want needed anymore. She was only there until the princess deal thing went public. She did manage to own Josh's ass in goal during the PE lesson before she left.

Now she was sitting in the back of the airman's car driving back. For some reason the airman's niece wanted to go via Las Vegas to visit a friend. Max never realised how dangerous it would become, not until a van smashed into the front of the car. The world went fuzzy. Max pinched herself to keep herself awake and she moved to check on the two people at the front of the car.

A piece of the window was sticking out of the nieces neck, she was obviously dead, and the airman's ribs had cracked, Max checked for a pulse or breathing, she found none on either. She grabbed her phone and only just remembered the American emergency number was 911 not 999 like in England. The conversation was brief and Max knew it would be fine now. Her vision was blurring a bit around the edges so she tried to focus on things to stay aware.

That's until she noticed the gunshot wound in the airman's chest. Her head jerked back in reaction to seeing the sight. Her eyes only just noticing it through the blood soaked jacket. Another shot cracked through the air embedding the bullet in the head rest where Max's head had been seconds before.

The second shot rang out but Max couldn't see where it hit. Her hand idly rubbed her stomach, hoping to stave of an itch.

When her fingers met a slightly viscose liquid she knew it wasn't an itch.

--

.duuuun

Please reveiw


	39. Grave Danger and a Dead body

Another week another chapter.

I had parents evening, half good, half crap. Glowing reports from Physics and Maths, crap report from Chemistry and a load of bull from Biology. Apparently I'm quiet and get on with my work well. In _that woman's_ lessons I barley shut up and as for work... well, what work? I don't do work in _her_ lessons she wouldn't know as she skips over looking at my work. _She's_ new to the area so _she_ didnt have a baby sitter for her kids so _she_ asked two people from my class. One of them stayed behind to do so and it turned out _she_ didnt need them, _she _hadn't thought to tell them.

I wonder if_ she's_ got the hint we don't like _her_, we groan about _her_ in _her_ own lessons.

Oh and viscose means sticky or a thick subtance like honey. Something can be very viscose or not so viscose so its an adjective. It can also be used as an insult, calling some one viscose means they're thick or dense.

--

Max knew that waking up in a hospital was a bad idea at the best of times. She could feel the stitches in her stomach holding the small wound closed. In addition she had a couple of stitches on her shoulder from the first shot, it hadn't missed as she had initially thought. The adrenaline from the crash had lessened the pain to such a degree she hadn't felt it.

She felt alone. Every single time she had been in hospital before, some one she knew would be there when she woke.

This time she was on her own. No one to tease by pretending to sleep. No reassuring presence by her side. Just the beep from besides her showing her heart was indeed beating. The tubes to help her breath and the IV in her arm restricted her movement. If she kept this up she would end up looking like a dug addict.

She vividly remembered the night before. At least she hoped it only happened last night, not a few weeks ago and she had just been in a coma. The date on the wall showed it had been two days. Not too bad.

She remembered looking down the second her fingers felt the sticky liquid that she knew was blood her tenant was trying to make the blot clot quickly making the blood really sticky. She had grabbed a jacket just as the first wave of pain washed over her starting at the stomach.

She had folded up the clothing and pressed it to the wound. The world had started to go fuzzy for her so she had bit her lip to keep focused. Her bottom lip was crusted over with dried blood. More pain had washed over her. She had just kept reassuring herself, saying she had survived worse.

She found she was talking to herself to keep herself sane. To remind herself that she was still alive. To convince herself she would see another day.

She had found a first aid kit in the glove draw and tied a bandage in place to keep pressure on in case she did fall unconscious. She remembered seeing some flashing light and knowing she would be in good hands.

Max was interrupted from memory lane by voices out side her room.

"She needs her rest, she's been shot through the stomach. With the amount of blood she's lost she probably won't wake up until tomorrow anyway, it's amazing she's still alive" Max could detect the awe from the doctors voice.

"She's the only possible witness we have, she saw the murder of a US airman, and we need to get this case done as soon as possible"

"She needs to go back to the base. When can she be transferred there? We can get her statement then"

Max groaned, she recognised the voice of one of the people from the SGC. She didn't want to be moved so soon. She wanted to stay around for a bit, no matter how long she had been a ninja, being shot in the stomach was still nerve wracking. It would take a short while to get used to the feeling.

She could hear the doctor enter the room, she was too tired to use FA to check but the footsteps of a doctor always seemed to be the same. The footsteps were quickly followed by the sharp steps of a military person and some light ones, probably someone who had to tread carefully like at a crime scene.

"Look, she's asleep. That means you can't ask her questions"

"She's awake," declared the light stepper, she could hear a Texas twang in the voice. She wondered how she hadn't noticed it earlier. Max unconsciously twitched at that alerting them that she as indeed awake. She could practically feel the smug look. She opened her eyes too see a doctor, an airman and a person in a CSI windbreaker. It kind of sounded like the beginning of a joke.

"I'm Nick Stokes. We need you to answer a few questions Miss," asked the CSI. Max was never so glad that she had figured out how to hide the ears on a more permanent basis or she would probably in a padded room.

"Fire away" Max conceded closing her eyes; the brightness was hurting her eyes. The standard questions were asked.

"What's your name?" _Maxine Hakie_

"How old are you Max?" _15, almost 16_

"Do you have any relatives or guardians we can contact, parent, older sibling?" _No, ask the airman._

"Are you in any pain?" _I was shot in the stomach, what do you think?_

"Are you allergic to anything" _No_

What do you remember from the accident?" _… Do I have to answer this?_

The question upset Max, the two people had died, she could have been a third. Even on her missions she had never come this close to dying, but a bullet to the stomach had changed that. All because the car didn't leave much room to move around in.

The bullet reminded her she wasn't invincible. Her reflexes may stop even the fastest kunai or her fingers may form seals fast enough to counter even the best jutsu but for a bullet she could do nothing but dodge. She doubted she could move faster than a bullet in such a small space such as a car.

"Miss Hakie? Could you please answer the question, it's important" _I… I remember a white van colliding with the front of the car. It hadn't been going fast to begin with, it seemed to have been parked around the corner… as if it were waiting. I could tell the girl was dead. When I looked though the glass didn't look like it came from any window, normal car windows shatter, and this was a large shard no cracks or anything. I didn't see the gun shot wound on the man until later. I then heard two more shots, I think I know where the second one ended up. _

"Thanks for your help, if you feel any pain press the call button" _If I feel pain you'll know about it._

Max was left by the doctor and she saw the airman stand outside guarding her room, the CSI stayed, observing her. Max rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, trying to avoid lying on the tubes attached to her body. She felt the CSI leave not long later.

Max sighed in relief and got out of bed dearly wishing they had left more clothes than the PJ like things she was wearing. She moved some of the tubes so she could get up and opened the door a crack to see the airman standing outside. There was no way she would get out without being seen. She headed back to her bed. She wished she had something to stave of her boredom.

She never did find a way, luckily she was released a week later. A couple of times CSI Stokes had come back to ask a few more questions and check on her well being. Apparently it was all over the news because of the nature of the case being related to the air force.

She had given her tenant a nudge to speed up the healing. The scar was still a bit sensitive, it would be for the next month or two.

It was late night when she was released, she had used ever skill she could to get released. She had been given back her clothes and a new tee shirt to replace the blood stained one. Her stuff had been sent to the apartment she was staying at. She didn't want to get back in a car anytime soon so she walked down the lit streets some bright where as others were dim. She was confident she could take care of herself.

She turned a corner walking around a large black van that was parked near a small road and grimaced at the sight, sitting in the middle of the street was a pile of guts. She was no FIN but it looked to neat, she killed people for a living and she would find it hard to get something that neat. She had spent many times trying. She had gone though an artistic phase but stopped when she couldn't be bothered to put in the effort.

There was a police car at the other end with the police officer puking up his own guts. She could see a CSI heading over to the guts. Something in her head was ticking over. Laura was the one who watched CSI not her but she had seen a few episodes.

She saw a cup by her foot. It was in an evidence bag already. She called over the CSI. She recognised him now, he was the one who had questioned her.

"You should be out on you own this time of night," warned the CSI seriously.

"It's fine, I can handle myself, the only thing I can't do is dodge bullets" Max said dismissively, she doubted he would believe her.

"I don't want to be investigating your murder tomorrow"

"Don't worry about it"

She headed on her way, looking at the poor police officer with pity, she was glad she wasn't easily offended by the sight of organs. She felt something move behind her as she drew level with the car. After using it so much FA seemed to have become second nature. She turned to late to see CSI Nick Stokes dragged away.

She turned to head back but was stopped by the police officer who obviously hadn't seen what was happening. She was about to break free when she remembered a lecture on 'Not drawing attention to your skills' so she struggled a bit. She did not want to get suspended from missions any time soon.

"Missy I can't have you walk over the crime scene again" the police officer said, he had gotten annoyed and handcuffed her for trying to contaminate a crime scene.

"You don't understand. Someone has just knocked out the CSI" Max could see through the darkness the CSI being bundled into the van. The same van she had walked around. She memorised the number plate and any other details.

"You must think I was born yesterday"

"No probably just dropped on your head as a child! Now look!" the police officer turned to see the CSI absent from the scene. He ran to the other end of the street to see a van screech away. Max was still handcuffed so had no chance of catching it. The police office ran back to the car and grabbed the radio and yelled into it.

Max was trying to move away unnoticed, she didn't want to be questioned again so soon she would undo the handcuffs as she walked away. A hand clamped on her shoulder prevented her from leaving.

"You can't leave, you're a witness now," the man informed her, she could smell the vomit on his breath.

"Jeez! first you want me to leave and now you don't, make up your mind" Max complained, she had no intention of not being a witness, she would have walked to the police station or CSI building, but she could guarantee she would get put in a car.

Her plan for the near future involved avoiding cars until the mental wound healed.

Ten minutes later the cavalry arrived, the street was bathed in flashing lights of red and blue and orchestra of sirens had announced the arrival. She recognised CSI Grissom, he had been there one of the times she had been questioned.

"Miss Hakie?" He obviously remembered her. It was hard to forget a girl with silver hair who survived the shooting and recovered quickly.

"Yes?"

"I need you to answer some questions down at the station, if you would follow me"

"Can't you ask them here?" Max tried to make it sound like she wasn't whining but failed. She didn't want to go near any car for a while. She saw Grissom give her a funny look.

"I got shot in a car, I get paranoid easily. That's why I was walking to the hotel, I don't want to go near a car because I don't want a repeat"

"If you fall off a horse the best thing to do is get back on again," said Grissom wisely. Max couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"That may be the best thing at the time but sometimes to sit back and see others doing it first helps regain confidence. Monkey see, monkey do," Max returned with her own words of wisdom.

"Touché, I suppose I can ask you here, it's just it looked cold and you have been in hospital recently" Max nodded in agreement but stayed put. She was asked questions that she answered to her best ability without going into classified material and finally uncuffed

She had considered calling in a favour from Laura or 'L' but she knew it would take too long for them to get here and up to speed. Maybe Laura knew about the episode though, she could help.

Max was released from the crime scene and she walked toward the hotel she would be residing in until she was ready to move. That and she was involved in a case, she wasn't allowed to leave the city unless she was completely cleared and would be no more help.

She got to the building and got her key card and headed up the stairs. There was a lift but she had taken one look and decided against it. It was too smaller space for her to handle at the moment.

She got to her floor and walked down the corridor, something didn't feel right. Her instincts were telling her something was wrong. She could smell blood, she quickly checked her own wounds but they weren't bleeding.

Max found the reason soon enough, she opened her room and found her belonging strewn across the room. Under a small pile of clothes she could see a hand poking out.

"Well bugger, I bet the crime lab will love me," Max said sarcastically to her self. This was not her week. Being shot, watching a kidnapping then finding a dead body at her hotel room. She fished out her phone from her pocket and called the police. After that she went and sat outside the room. She didn't want to accidently contaminate the evidence.

She sighed and lent back against the wall, there was just too much morbid drama. Yes she wanted action but not where people dumped dead bodies in her frickin room.

She knew action and adventure normally came hand in hand with death and injuries, but in such a short space of time. She heard footsteps approaching and turned to see some police officers and CSI's arrive. She recognised Greg from the TV series, he was the only one she could recognise from the series. But that was because he was so adorable.

"Are you the one who called in the body?"

"Yup, it in that room" said Max as she pointed at her room, she held out her key card in offering.

What else was going to happen?

--

Please reveiw


	40. Hold up by a Barbie

Its been a year and a day since the beginging of this saga and in that time 70 chapter have been written between the first and second part over 175,000 words and over 100 reveiws.

That and it's no where near finished. There's probably going to be two or three more parts, one when Max and Laura are 18 and one after that and maybe one after that.

I thank all my readers and my reveiwers for their suport and interest and hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

--

"Time of death was about five hours ago" announced Dave as he removed the liver thermometer from the body.

"Five hours ago I was in hospital, records can prove it" Max informed them, hopefully it would save some time, she knew they had a CSI to find but they had other cases to deal with.

Like the missing CSI. While Max had been waiting she had called Laura. She now knew which episode it was.

'Grave Danger.' Max had missed watching the beginning of the episode which is why she hadn't realised it.

"You still need to give some DNA so that we can find the foreign DNA, the body can go to autopsy"

"I know the deal, my friend is a detective," Max said, she allowed them to take a DNA swab. She wanted in on this case and she knew she would have to be subtle.

"Where does your friend work?"

"She's freelance, goes where the case takes her, she goes by the alias of Yuri."

Ok she was about as subtle as a brick wall.

"Yuri! As in Yuri the famous detective who broke the drug trafficking ring and caught the serial killer of west London and helped break open the Kira case?"

"Yup"

"I don't suppose you could ask her to come here and help on a tough case. A kidnapping" Max could see the hope in Greg's eyes.

"She currently is in the middle of something but I can help, I work as one of her agents and I picked up a ton of tricks"

"If you could come to the lab then we can sort out this case quickly and help out"

"Sure, I don't suppose anyone had a motorbike though…" Max asked, she got a weird look.

"I got shot in a car, can you blame me for not wanting to get near one ever again"

"I suppose not but you'll have to suck it up"

"Fine, take me to you lab then"

Back at the lab Max was shown the USB pen and the live feed from it. She was a bit shaken up, and would not stop looking around for the whole car journey

"Have you tried to find where it being sent from?"

"It's being bounced off too many satellites, we tried" Max ushered the person in front of the computer of the seat and sat down. She opened a window and started typing.

"Well then, you're in luck, I can trace back the feed even bounced off satellites, it's why I'm part of Yuri's team" Max didn't see Grissom walk in behind her as she worked on the computer.

"Miss Hakie?"

"I go by Rho when I'm working" Max said with out looking up from the screen, she was working on a program she had started during second year instead of bothering with DADA she had gotten some computing books and used a bit of imagination to get it to work.

"What are you doing then Rho?"

"Finding your man" Max said as she continued typing, it wasn't touch typing but it was close enough.

It took Max half an hour to finish and when she did only Grissom was still watching her. The live feed was on the computer next to her so most of the attention was on it.

The lack of typing made everyone look at her.

"So where is he?"

"Dude, this program needs time to retrace the signal back, it'll take a while depending on how many satellites it's bounced off, if the screen starts flashing then its done and a box should open with the location in longitude and latitude correct to ten metres" said Max getting up and stretching. She headed to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To get breakfast, I haven't eaten since I was in hospital"

"Greg, go with her, it dangerous this time of night, if something happens we'll keep you both informed, stay out of trouble"

"Sure I'll keep out of trouble" the two of them headed out to a 24 hour fast food place.

"How did you become one of Yuri's agents then? You seem kind of young"

"I was friends with Yuri long before she became Yuri, she recognise my skills when we were still in school and asked me to help out with some of her cases"

"Do you like working for her"

"It has its ups and downs like any job, do you like being a CSI?" the conversation continued all the way to the fast food place, Max was still fidgeting in her seat looking around but it wasn't too bad.

They stood in line waiting to order when they heard a gunshot behind them. Max turned withdrawing some blades but keeping them hidden in her hands.

Behind her stood Misa Amane a gun pointing straight at Max's head. The rest of the fast food place was deathly silent.

"_Everybody get on the floor!"_ Misa called. No one moved.

"_They don't understand Japanese, idiot_" Max yelled.

"_Then translate_"

"Ok guys, this creepy girl says everybody get on the floor" everyone did so, except Max. Max only did so when she was pulled down by Greg. Misa glared at her, the teen pop idols eyes widen in recognition of something just above Max's head.

"_You killed him_" Misa accused the gun pointing directly at Max's forehead.

"_No I didn't_"

"_You killed him_," she repeated. Max rolled her eyes.

"_No I didn_…"

"_You killed him_" she was very insistent and Max wondered if Misa was actually sane anymore.

"_No I di_…"

"_You killed him_" Misa interrupted again,

"_No I_…"

"_You killed him_"

"_I didn't kill the idiot! He ran in front of the damn car. Stop blaming me you creepy gothic Barbie!_" Max yelled. She had been quite content to be held hostage for a while with out busting out but Misa was driving her round the bend.

"…"

"Thank you Kami"

"_You killed h_…" This was just too much, Max snapped.

"For the love of the Flying Green Monkey!" she yelled getting to her feet ignoring the gun pointed directly at her, she ignored Greg and the others in the fast food place who were telling her to sit down and stay unnoticed. Max walked over to Misa who was standing there, her finger on the trigger, Max could see her hands were shaking.

"_Shoot me then. If you think I killed him then shoot me, I didn't put him in jail that was Mu, I'm not Mu_" Max dared. If she survived this she was going to put a price on this girls head.

"_I can see your name, it's the same as Mu's_" Max froze. When had Misa seen Mu when she hadn't taken the measures to ensure her identity remained secret? She had gotten careless.

"_I am not Mu_" technically this wasn't lying. She wasn't a Greek letter, she just had an alias of one.

"_Your right…Maxine Hakie_"

"_You don't have it, do you? You have the memories but you don't have it, if you had it I would be dead. You remember you had one before you met Light, I stole it,_" the rest of the people in the room were looking confused at the two girls. Max heard a phone vibrate but knew it wasn't hers, from where it was coming from it was Greg's, she saw him answer it in hushed tones and listened in on the conversation.

"The autopsy from the hotel room said the man died of a heart attack, the program hasn't got any results yet" came through the phone in a tinny voice. Max realised what this meant.

This was a set up.

"_So Rem, you agree with Misa on this, you want me to die too? Why didn't you use your own death note? Did you know that I would kill her so by the rules you would die too?_" said Max to thin air, to all but the two girls. Rem stayed silent.

"_Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you,_" demanded Misa.

"_I don't know, can you kill the dead?_"

"_What?!_" in that moment of confusion Max moved closing the distance between herself and the gun, moving fluidly to the side and pushing the gun to face upwards flicking the safety as she did so. She subtly pushed a few points in Misa's hand and elbow making her drop the gun. Max caught it before it hit the ground

"They fall for that every time" smirked Max. She had cornered both girl and death god.

It was at that point the police officers burst in and apprehended Misa.

"So much for 'sure I'll keep out of trouble'" Max sighed as she waited for her order two hours later.

"Trouble seems to follow you like a puppy"

"You don't know the half of it," mumbled Max. She heard Greg's phone vibrate again and watched as he answered it. The order came just then so Max collected it and followed the CSI as he rushed to his car.

"They have a location," announced the CSI as the both got into the car.

"Are you going to tell me where or do I have to guess?" Max asked after a few minute of silence.

"Oh yeah, it's at some nursery, I know where it is, they found a person in a barn half an hour ago, he blew himself up, they found a box but It had a dog in it. Your program came up with a location a few minutes ago. How can you be eating at a time like this?" asked Greg as he noticed Max eating a huge burger.

"Can you remember the last time you ate?"

"Yes"

"Well I can't so I'm going to eat," said Max as she dug into her burger. As a ninja she had a large appetite as she burnt up a load of energy on missions.

The rest of the car journey was silent. All that could be heard was the hum of the engine. The car screeched to a halt in front of the gates. Greg practically leapt out of the car Max followed seconds later.

"Where now?" Greg questioned himself.

"This way" said Max walking off. She had a small black thing in her hand.

"How can you tell?"

"My little friend here detects even the smallest transmission." She had borrowed it of L one time and never got round to returning it. They both turned when they heard cars pull up behind them. More people got out. Max continued walking in the direction that the device was telling her to go. She noticed the others were following with shovels. She took off at a run to speed up the process, changing directions rapidly when the beeping slowed. The others followed as best they could.

Max abruptly stopped on top of a patch of freshly turned earth.

"The signals coming from here" she said moving back to allow people to start digging.

The tension was thick as they dug though the earth a wave of relief went though the group when they heard the shovels hit plastic. There was a scrabble to brush away the top layer. Max backed into he shadows, reunions weren't her thing, too emotional.

She watched Grissom get a call about the explosives and knew this was going to end well.

She watched the coffin explode seconds after Nick had been pulled free. She was content with staying back in the shadows. She was a ninja, it's what she was good at.

She headed to where the cars were parked, she would ask for a ride then. She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Someone had followed her.

"Thank you" Max turned to see Grissom standing behind her.

"No problem, its part of my job" said Max her face slightly flushed from the praise

"The body in you hotel room died of natural causes as far as we know so you can leave when ever you wish"

"The sooner I'm gone, the less trouble I can cause here" joked Max.

"True, also that girl when held up the food place, I assume you know her, she's undergoing trial"

"I know her from a previous job, she's slightly crazy. Her boyfriend was a mass murderer and died. I happened to be there so she blames me" Max explained giving a very abridged version.

"We heard half of the conversation, it was recorded and someone translated it, what's a 'death note' you were talking about and who's Rem?"

"I can't talk about past missions, it policy," They were interrupted by Max's phone ringing. Grissom nodded at her and left her alone. Max flipped open her phone.

"Yello'"

"Max, where in the Flying Green Monkey's name are you?"

"I'm in Vegas"

"What?! Why?"

"Car crash"

"Can you get back to Colorado Springs soon? We need to head back to Konoha"

"Sure, I'll be there as soon as I can" Max said before closing her phone. She was finally going home, it seemed like forever since she had last been there.

--

Please reveiw


	41. Psychology and babysitting

I could spend so long describing the faults of _that woman_ but then i would be here till christmas... 2009

_She_ can't disect a pair of lungs to save her life, _she_ thought that a bronchiole was a capillary. Even I knew it wasnt, for one I could see it. Capillaries are too small to see an indevidule one on its own, for two it was made of rigid cartalige. She made a right mess of the whole thing.

Then _she_ told me off for talking, for once I wasn't my friend was talking to me yet I got blamed_._ I pissed _her_ of later though_, she_ gave us questions to answer and I subtley got_ her_ to give me the answer_._

Anyway onto better news. I passed a chem test. Apparently you can't separate amino acids with a pair of very small tweezer though. There went three marks and I got a comment saying even Einstein couldn't use small tweezers. Oops, I still passed though with 61 percent, pass mark being 40. shame I have my chem unit test 4 tomorow...

--

Max stepped though the Stargate back onto Fire Country soil. She took a deep breath and sighed. Her scythe was held in her left hand, where it had been absent for so long.

"Tis good to be home" she sniffled before being shoved forward by Laura. They had met up in Colorado Springs and gone though the gate as a team. Rem hadn't been to sure about it but came anyway.

"Quit with the dramatics, we still have to get back to Konoha," Laura said laughing as Max dramatically sobbed and nursed an imaginary wound.

The group formed and headed home. Max smiled, it felt good to be back in a place where she didn't have to hide her abilities. She had missed the freedom. She had also missed her team, and though she would never admit it aloud she especially missed Itachi.

"One person approaching, ten o'clock" Max warned.

"The rest of you go ahead, we'll stall them," said Itachi. The others sped up and Max and Itachi veered to the left. Rem was intrigued and followed. She might as well get to know more about Max

"Hey Deidara, long time no see," Max greeted the missing rock nin with a hug. After the solo missions for so long she was more affectionate, her team had been greeted with hugs too. She didn't notice the glare from her old partner directed at the artist. Said artist had seen the glare.

"Yep, a long time. No ones been able to find either of you, people we beginning to think you two had eloped," said Deidara. Max flushed a tiny bit but Itachi stayed stoic, it was well know he could hide his emotions better than Max.

"Deidara, you have a fifteen second head start" Max said in an eerily calm voice.

"Wait..."

"1" said Max, she withdrew a kunai and held it in a ready position.

"But I…"

"2"

"Crap" and Deidara as he turned and ran.

"Three" Max said, and then she gave chase. Itachi following a split second later to make sure she didn't get complete of track. Rem followed trying not to laugh, she liked this kid more and more.

"What happened to 15 seconds?"

"I lied, now go make sure the others haven't got into trouble while I maim someone" smirked Max as she sped up. It took no time to get level with the blonde-haired person.

"I thought you said I had 15 seconds"

"And you believed me? I'm a ninja, I lie," said Max as she leapt forward tackling Deidara to the ground.

"True. Please don't hurt me"

"But… but, I thought you were nice" pouted Max. Deidara looked at her.

"Who gave you sake?"

"Who needs sake when you have… Sugar Coated Caffeine Pills" declared Max jumping up and striking a pose.

"You're faking it"

"What can I say, I'm the best actress there ever was, cos that princess got nothin' on me." Max didn't notice Deidara make his escape until she turned.

"Damn!" she shrugged and headed towards Konoha, she would get him later.

"That was interesting" said Rem.

"I like being interesting. When we get back to the village can you keep quiet please? If I'm seen talking to nothing I'll be given a psych evaluation. I don't want one they're boring"

"Why don't you give me the death note, then I'll leave you alone" offered Rem.

"I like my memories, I don't need a huge gap, besides, talking to you can be fun on a solo mission." That and Max didn't trust her not to give it to Misa. She didn't wasn't to die quite yet.

"You're defiantly strange"

"Yeah, I know"

The mandatory physical check up they went though had been a pain for Max, she had been suspended from high class missions for the next month to ensure the bullet holes healed fully. She had bribed Tsunade with sake to keep quiet, she didn't want Laura to fuss, or anyone else for that matter to treat her like a china doll.

A week later was team 7.5's first mission after returning. They had been specifically requested to deliver a package to the land of waves. Max knew it would turn into a partial interrogation and had tried to skip out on it saying she was still psychologically recovering but Itachi had said otherwise as payback.

She had even said that since she was a jounin she could be doing something else. That hadn't worked either. Therefore, team 7.5 were tree jumping to the land of waves with a package Max confirmed as exactly three bricks.

Max would occasionally throw objects at Naruto and Sasuke to keep them on their guard. Unfortunately they had decided to throw some back. Kakashi had seen her running and proposed a race with similar terms that Max and Itachi's spars had. The winner would make the other two do something for the week after they got back.

Somehow Sasuke managed to win. To make things worse he wasn't going to tell them until they got back.

The visit was quite long. Tsunami wouldn't stop asking them about their lives and Inari would ask for stories of their adventures. Naruto would tell them and Sasuke or Max would correct them.

Kakashi had mysteriously disappeared; they all knew he didn't want to be told that he should take better care of himself. He had used his students as a distraction to escape.

They finally got to head home. Max's week didn't get any better when Sasuke told them about what they had to do.

She had to wear a miniskirt. She wasn't allowed to wear anything underneath that was longer than the skirt. If she had a mission she had to wear it but she had to complete a full week in Konoha. If she had her way then Itachi would become an only child. All Naruto had to do was forgo ramen for the day. She was still wondering how she lost that race, and then she remembered a conversation she had had about fan girls.

"_Why do you think Uchiha's are such good runners and hiders?" _

Maybe she could just hide in her house. This plan was thwarted by Tsunade. One of the jounin instructors was needed on a specialised mission and she didn't have any experienced jounin to cover and since Max was a jounin and therefore qualified she would take over for the time the jounin was away. It was a low classed mission so Max was able to undertake it. Itachi was missing that day for some reason.

The day after they had gotten back from the Land of waves Max emerged from her room wearing a miniskirt, at least it was dark coloured though, red fading to black. Other than that she was wearing her standard clothes. Combat boots, black tank top with a dark red button up shirt on top, various weapons pouches and her gloves. She actually looked her age, in the other universe she had been short for her age and looked twelve, where as she looked 15 going on 16.

She ignored the comments from her housemates as she grabbed breakfast, she would take a leaf out of Kakashi's book and turn up late. Now she just needed a book to read…

She eventually turned up to the team meeting place. It was one of the teams that had been in the year below her. Two boys, one blond and the other was a skinhead and a girl with short brown hair, from the looks of it the two boys were to cocky for their own good and the girl had less self-esteem than Hinata ever had.

"Sup?" Max greeted as she appeared in a puff of smoke. In her hand was a book. Psychology for idiots. Rem was watching from the trees. She would be following Max around descreetly.

"Who are you?" demanded one of the boys leering at her. Both boys were making it obvious that they didn't mind her wearing a short skirt.

"Your temporary teacher"

"You don't even look older than me," snorted the other boy. Max half smiled.

"So, age doesn't matter. Anyway tell me about yourselves, Names and preferred fighting style… maybe you dreams if you want"

"You first"

"Jeez, so demanding. I'm Max Hakie, I don't have a preferred style I pick and chose as it suits me. My dream is none of your business. Right then, skinhead you're up"

The three introduced themselves as Hoshi, Kyo and Ju and Max got them sparing so she could assess their abilities. The girl was a timid ninjutsu specialist and both boys were taijutsu specialists.

To make things worse, their normal teacher had nominated them for the chunin exams. So Max had a lot to do and would be going with them. The exams were in Rock this time due to the alliance. Max first found a way to boost the girls self esteem. All in the name of training the team and her own amusement.

She blindfolded the boys and told them to spar the two boys verses the girl.

"Why? It's unfair to us, she can see," grumbled one of the boys.

"Fine, do you want a demonstration of what you can do while blindfolded, you two take them off and fight me" Max offered as she slide her headband over her eyes. Using FA she could see them look at each other and shrug, in the corner of her detection area she noticed something but quickly diverted her attention and defended from the boy's attacks.

It didn't take them long to concede defeat and agree to the original spar. The found it a lot harder than Max made it seem. This was defiantly boosting the girl's confidence as she easily defended against them.

"Now switch roles, the two boys can defend against the attacks still blindfolded. Don't even think about taking it off. Use your other senses to figure out the attacks," commanded Max. She got out an apple and started to munch on it. It would at least confuse the boys' sense of smell and some hearing.

She was still reading her psychology book, wondering if they would catch on. The spar wasn't going anywhere fast so Max decided to spice it up.

"The winning team gets to make the losing team do something within reason," Max declared the reaction was instantaneous. The girl blocked two simultaneous hits and restrained them with earth shackles. This slightly worried Max. Either they had done this before or the girl was holding back a lot.

"I think it's obvious who the winner is. We head to Rock for the chunin exams in two days, so training tomorrow will only be half a day and the other half will be packing. Spend the rest of today sparing and working on any weak points, remember you're a team so act like it," said Max and she disappeared. She left a clone watching them and headed home to hide for the rest of the day.

She didn't quite make it. She was spotted by Itachi.

"My brother?"

"Is a dead man," Max growled. She was too annoyed to notice Itachi had his Sharingan on and was looking at her intently. Max had some how managed to nullify any camera that tried to take a picture. She tugged a bit self-consciously at her skirt.

"Why not Henge?"

"Can't, part of the deal" Max turned to go but was stopped.

"I do still need my brother so don't kill him or take away his ability to reproduce"

"Damn!"

The next day Max had her revenge.

"Max, have you touched my shampoo?" asked Itachi, scaring Max as he crept up behind her as she walked to meet her temporary team.

"Nope, Why?" she answered innocently. She hadn't touched it, she had used gloves so she hadn't directly touched it.

"It was replaced by honey" it was obvious from Max's point of view, it was dripping down Itachi's face

Max turned and smirked she took a finger and swiped it down his cheek and licked her finger.

"It makes you so sweet" Max grinned and without warning licked his cheek. While Itachi was still in shock Max ran. She passed an annoyed Sasuke who was trying to get the honey out as he walked.

Her team thought she was insane when she turned up grinning like an idiot.

"Max-sensei, why are you so happy, I thought ninjas weren't supposed to show emotions" asked the girl.

"Are you scared?"

"Kind of"

"Then is scaring… say… an enemy wrong?"

"No" scoffed one of the boys.

"So what does that mean?"

"You can show emotion if it's to scare the enemy," answered the girl, she seemed less timid and more dreamy like Luna.

"Not just to scare, use emotions to unnerve the enemy or make them under estimate you, consider this your second lesson"

"What was the first?" asked the other boy.

"Never trust someone who turns up reading a psychology book when they say something is easy" Max grinned. The team looked puzzled until Max brought out the book she had been reading yesterday.

"Why do you need to read a book on psychology?"

"To give you a clue, you could have avoided humiliation if you had paid attention to what I was reading, so what is the forfeit for the boys then Hoshi?"

"Well, I found out that you have to wear a skirt for a week so I think they should too"

"I think I like you,"

"But you said for a day" protested the Kyo.

"Actually you'll find I didn't"

"You're a sadistic teacher," grumbled Ju.

"I do my best, now training for today, uh… what kind of Justus do you guys know?"

"Mainly fire and the basic, Hoshi knows a few earth"

"Right then, I say you can learn………."

"Max-sensei?"

"What, I was thinking"

"No, you trailed off," argued one of the boys.

"Did not"

"Did too"

"Did not"

"Did too"

"Did not"

"Did not" said the boy cheekily ready to catch Max out.

"I know"

"Wait… What??? But how?"

"Psychology book" Max smirked, she had pulled that one on Yuri too many times to be caught up in it herself. She wasn't going to tell her students that, she had plans.

"What's so great about that book anyway?"

"It's full of wisdom and if vital to any ninjas well being" the kids really should have noticed the gleam in Max's eye.

"Can we see?"

"No"

"Can I borrow that book? It must be good, you got Kyo and Ju of the subject of Justus," asked Hoshi.

"No." If they had been sensible they would have left it at that but they were curious.

Curiosity killed the cat. Max had been blamed many times though.

--

Please review


	42. Off to Rock, Jealousy and going Loco

Quite a bit happens in this chapter. The end of this part is getting nearer but still has many trials to get through.

Anyway, my week wasnt too bad. There seems to be a bug going around, my class buddy was ill for half the week, I failed my unit test 4 mock along with most of my class. I go an A for a report I did in an hour the night after it was due in. I have less than a week left of school. I don't have key skills till around easter. I had a biology test which annoyed me, I revised some thing for it... it wasn't in the paper, the thing we revised the lesson before... wasn't in the paper, I probably will get the result on Tuesday.

--

"Max! You have visitors!" The yell reverberated though the house. A girl stirred in her bed before sitting up.

"Max decided to move to the hills" yelled said girl from her room.

"Why are there three little ankle-bitters at the door?" asked Laura poking her head through the door.

"Dunno"

"They say that you're supposed to meet them at the gate to go to Rock"

"How in Kami's name do they know where I live?" asked Max as she bounded down the stairs to yell at her students. She passed Laura who had returned to making a bacon sandwich. Max had plans to steal it when it was done.

"We asked around," answered Hoshi.

"Oh, I though it would be something impressive, like you stole the Hokage's records to find it"

"Told you she would be cool about it," hissed Kyo at Hoshi. Max didn't miss the smirk on this boys face. He was lying.

"Right then, Kyo, you can carry all of our bags,"

"Why?"

"For lying badly, the records don't have addresses since ninjas are a tad paranoid and move every other week, the Hokage would never get the paperwork done"

"Ha, you got owned!" said Louise as she passed by grabbing the bacon sandwich from Laura's hand and taking a bite.

"I know you! You're Louise, famous interrogator, second only to Ibiki and only just, you're my idol!" gapped Ju, his eyes filled with awe.

"Hey, I'm famous and some kids idol. Who are these kids anyway?" asked Louise between bites of the sandwich.

"My temporary team" groaned Max. She grabbed the star struck Ju by the back of his collar and dragged him out followed wisely by the rest of the team. She didn't need her house mates teaming up with her short-term bunch of brats.

They reached the gate and met up with three other teams that were also heading to the exams.

"Lookin' good Hakie" called out Izumo from his spot by the gate.

"Max? I didn't know you had a team." Kotetsu added his two cents.

"Neither did I, I'm just stuck with these kids until their regular sensei gets back." Kotetsu and Izumo shook their heads sympathetically they were quite happy not being stuck with kids as chunin.

The group was finally on its way to rock. Max was up ahead on point with Rem hovering behind her, Max was the most experienced of the jounin. She could hear her team gossiping about her and the strangeness she had displayed in the last two days. She prided herself in being strange. It kept people guessing.

"Max-sensei?"

"No"

"Are we there yet?" asked Hoshi.

"No, ask me that again and you can relieve Kyo of the bags and take them yourself." Hoshi saw Kyo struggling with the bags, they were guessing Max kept lead weights in her just to torture them.

If they had bothered to ask they would have found out that's she did. Rem had suggested it as she packed.

It was approaching dusk when they stopped for the night, as a convoy they had to travel at the same pace as the slowest person… who just so happened to be Kyo. If Max had been Kakashi, she would have sent them straight back to the academy for displaying no signs of teamwork.

A team mate would have taken part of the load despite what their teacher told them.

It took them three more days to get to Rock. It would have taken less than two days had they shared the load.

They were currently sitting in the hotel room.

"Consider this lesson three, you're a team, act like it." With that Max left via the window to let the team figure it out. She wasn't going to teach them until they learned to be a better team. She wandered the streets until she was so absorbed in her thoughts she bumped into someone.

"Deidara?" This couldn't be right, Deidara was a missing nin.

"No, it me, Itsuki, Deidara brother"

"Sorry, I was a little out of it, what brings you here?"

"I live here…" Itsuki said slowly, he was wondering why Max had been so intelligent last time but so slow now.

"Oh yeah, I'm being ditsy, my teams idiocy is having a bad influence on me," She wasn't really, she was just covering for her slip that she knows Deidara.

"You finally got a team?"

"Kinda, more like babysitting, I can get rid of them in a bit with any luck. They're here for the exams. Do you still have your team?"

"Yes, my second team, they're doing the exams too. Do you want to walk around for a bit, I never got to show you around last time?"

"That would be nice" the two jounin headed down the street. From a nearby alley way three teen genin wandered out and followed their temporary sensei using all the stealth they possessed. They wanted to find out more about their weird sensei. On a roof nearby another group of genin were watching their sensei and the strange girl he was with. They were more determined to find out about the girl their sensei was consorting with.

"Do you think they know that we know they're following us?"

"My team wouldn't know even if I turned around and told them," grumbled Max

"They can't be that bad, can they?"

"Trust me, they are"

"The exams will show all"

"Remember the ones in mist years ago?"

"You were so small"

"And I passed, I was pretty amazing"

"And am very modest" added Itsuki sarcastically. Max struck a pose.

"Of course, I would never boost about being better than others"

"Remember in the finals against your team mate. That was pretty intense, I thought you were going to win it." Max gave a dry smile as she remembered Deidara saying something similar.

"I would have won it had I not sparred against him for the last year, he knew most of my tricks." The two went back to reminiscing and trading stories of missions. The two genin teams were watching closely.

It was approaching sunset when they went their separate ways, their teams had diligently followed them all day. Max headed to her hotel room only to be ambushed by her team.

"Your stealth could use some work," she advised as she passed by avoiding their attempts to stop her.

"How could you tell?"

"Rule four, learn someone's true level before trying to follow them. Here's a freebie, I used to be ANBU." Max left the shocked group and headed to bed. She wanted sleep, this was not going to turn into a mission where she barley slept.

By some miracle the team got past the first test the next day. Max was wondering for a while, maybe they had learnt things, like don't just judge something by its cover.

Back in Konoha, Laura sat in her lab staring into space, she needed to talk to Tsunade about some match making.

Tsunade already knew of the plan and had put some of it into action. Making Max take on a team and ultimately go to Rock where Tsunade knew Max had a friend was all part of it.

Itachi was bored, normally when they weren't on missions he would hang around with Max but she wasn't around. He had noticed that he was beginning to have feelings for the silver haired girl. He just didn't plan to do anything about it, Max was too unpredictable to predict her reaction if he admitted it.

If she put honey in his shampoo just because Sasuke made her wear a skirt he didn't want to imagine what she would do. He wasn't sure that he would be able to keep up with her if she got really pissed off.

He had too much pride to even consider asking Sasuke for advice.

He got up from the tree branch he was sat on and headed to Tsunade's office. He wanted to take his mind off this.

Tsunade resisted the urge to smirk when Itachi entered the room.

"What brings you here, you have a few days leave?"

"I'm requesting a mission, being idle is to boring"

"So Max keeps telling me." Itachi didn't trust the hints of a smirk Tsunade hadn't manage to hide.

"I need a personal bodyguard to accompany me to Rock to watch the final part of the chunin exams there. I'll assign you the job, we leave in three days," Tsunade said shuffling some paper around. Itachi nodded and left. Only then did Tsunade smirk, this was going to be easy. Being Hokage defiantly had its perks.

Max was slightly depressed, Hoshi had gotten around to the final round meaning she couldn't go home. While it was nice having a break babysitting wasn't on her list of things to do.

Talking to Itsuki helped though, her reminded her of Deidara, seeing how they were related it didn't surprise her much.

During the customary month between the second and final parts Max was getting bored. At least when Tsunade got there she could plead never to have to babysit ever again. Maybe some sake would help with the matter.

Currently she was sitting on the long windowsill of her hotel room, her feet dangling out of the open window. Itsuki was going to meet her at some point, he knew how annoying it was to be stuck somewhere with no one to talk to.

"Just think, 7 more days till you can go home and drive everyone there nuts" said Itsuki as he sat down next to her.

"Yep, I have a list ready and waiting"

"I pity the people on that list"

"Many people do" Max noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

"Isn't that's your Hokage?"

"Yup. Maybe I can persuade her to let me go home now"

"Aw, do you hate my presence that much?" asked Itsuki pouting. Max almost thought he was Deidara, he had pouted at her before and they look so much alike it was kind of creepy.

Neither of them noticed someone watching them, the person wasn't one of their students, no; it was someone with more skill. So it could be your average civilian, you'd still be wrong but it could be.

Tsunade chuckled at the sight, she knew who was watching the pair and it was exactly how she had planned.

Itachi watched as Max sat talking to the rock nin, he didn't like the way she was close to the blond. From his point of view he couldn't see much without getting noticed. When the blond left he was all ready to go and talk to her but he noticed she was speaking. There was no signs of a radio or phone near her.

He couldn't see whom to, it could be someone in the room behind her. However, wouldn't she have turned to face them. Max did turn but not towards the room, she was staring in front of her and slightly up. There was no building there.

Was Max talking to herself, it wasn't unusual for Ex-ANBU, to display symptoms of insanity like this but Max always had seemed stronger than this.

"You do know we're being watched," pointed out Rem looking towards Itachi.

"Who?"

"Itachi Uchiha, do you know him?"

"Yeah, I've know him for ages, he's going to think I'm going loco, talking to someone he can't see"

"You could tell him"

"Then he would defiantly think I've gone loco, I bet even Laura who knows about you thinks I've gone crazy" mumbled Max, it would be good to announce to the world that she was thought of as crazy.

"If he's going to think you 'loco' then why are you still talking to me?" asked Rem puzzled.

"Saves me from having to point out I know he's there," reasoned Max, she knew Itachi could lip read. Rem still looked puzzled.

Seconds later Itachi appeared on the window sill next to her.

"Who were you talking to?"

"A friend" said Max nonchalantly, Itachi should have known better than that to try to get a straight answer from her.

"I meant after the blond"

"Another friend." Itachi could tell Max was laughing inside despite looking innocent on the outside.

"Who would that friend be?"

"Ah, curiosity killed the cat" Max said and she moved to get of the windowsill.

"But I'm not a cat…" said a confused Itachi aloud. He watched Max prepare to jump of the window sill but saw her foot slip a bit and she started to fall. He quickly grabbed her sticking to the ledge with chakra. He unknowingly put pressure on the bullet wound.

He felt Max wince but helped her up before asking questions.

"What did you do to your stomach?"

"Nothing" Max's answer was too quick to be the truth.

"Show me"

"What?! No you pervert!" Max yelled and used Itachi's confusion to shushin away. That was one awkward situation avoided. She didn't want to get the next lecture about taking care of herself.

He scanned the immediate area for Max but she was no where to be seen. He sighed, he would find out eventually. He didn't like seeing her hurt, or the fact she felt she needed to hide it.

Finally the final part of the chunin exams came and Max was sitting in the stands watching her temporary student fight. Hoshi wasn't doing too badly, she had a cut on her arm but that was the worst of it. She was fighting one of Itsuki's students.

Itsuki was sitting next to Max and they were trying to guess who would win the match. Max only had limited knowledge of either of the two fighters but she could read someone pretty well.

From the Kage's box they were being watched. Max had noticed but brushed it off. Her name was in many bingo books, but even then not many were stupid enough to attack her. Some were just curious in Rock, she had a reputation and people wanted to ask about it.

Itachi didn't like how close Max and the Rock nin were sitting, he knew who it was but didn't give the blond his name, that would be like admitting defeat in his books. He also want to know why Max was hurt. Tsunade had been less than helpful but slipped up and mentioned a gun.

Itachi could only assume she had been shot.

Hoshi managed to slip in a sly attack and won the match, she had caught her opponent off guard when she had started giggling loudly. Max smiled fondly, she had taught at least one of them something.

The matches went on for a while, Hoshi got defeated in the next round when she was up against someone with speed that rivalled Rock Lee's.

The new chunin's were announced two days later and they headed back to Konoha not long after. Max was happy to finally be going home.

Sitting on Tsunade's desk was something very unwanted. A new mission… Back to Hogwarts but thankfully not from the headmaster. It was to go and wait for the old man to slip up and if needed protect the students from him if he did slip up badly.

"Max, gather your team. You're going to Hogwarts to watch for a man making mistakes" called Tsunade across a training field where Max was playing her panpipes. The pipes had promptly exploded.

"What?! Why?!"

"You know the place better than anyone despite you not being their as long as some of the others, besides you'll like this mission. Find who you want and report to me tomorrow ready to leave" ordered Tsunade. Max gave a mocking salute and shushined away. Tsunade grinned, now to ask Laura a favour.

Max stood in waiting in the airport, her team had slightly changed, with the mission they had been given they wanted to make sure they would have enough manpower to keep the students safe. Hence why Temari, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino and Itachi were around as well as Team 7.5. Unfortunately Sakura was there too.

"Flight 392 to London Heathrow had been cancelled due to recent actions, we apologise for the inconvenience" came the annoying voice over the intercom.

"Damn!" exclaimed Max, she had been stuck there for three hours surrounded by a group of annoying kids nearby, she was not a child person when it came to being in a crowded place or if they were throwing tantrums.

"The next flight isn't for another week but there is a flight in two days from Las Vegas to Wales, it has spaces" said Laura looking up from her laptop.

"Oh great, last time I was there nothing but bad things happened" groaned Max. She was a bit grouchy, it was five am.

"Tough, as I said it leaves in two days and we have a mission to get to"

The group found themselves in Vegas by the evening. It had not escaped Itachi's notice that Max had been tense the whole journey in the back of a taxi.

It was two hours later when Max and Laura stumbled over a severed hand.

"Vegas may be lucky for some people but not me"

"Be happy, we may get to meet the CSI's" grinned Laura happily.

"Been there, done that, solved a case"

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Things came up." that and Laura would act like a rabid fan girl.

"Miss Hakie?"

"Yes it's me, no I didn't do it, I just happen to be very unlucky" said Max turning to see Nick Stokes approaching with Greg following.

"You do seem to attract a load of trouble"

"Or it's a ton of coincident, this place must have at least five murders a day chances of me tripping over a few while I'm here is actually really high"

"Do you have any idea where the rest of the body is?" asked Greg trying to get back on track.

"Nope, just the hand"

"Do you think it could have been planted?" Max couldn't blame Nick for being cautious, last time something was this clean he had been kidnapped.

"The hand looks like it's been dead or at least severed a while, I'd say at least a day," Laura observed, drawing the two CSI's attention to her.

"Oh, this is Laura, one of my best friends" introduced Max. She really hoped they didn't make the link and assume Laura was Yuri, an alias was separate for a reason.

"You're going to need to give a statement, both of you," said Greg as he crouched down to take some photos.

"Here or at the station,"

"I suppose if you wait a bit you can do them here, still nervous around cars?" asked Nick.

"A bit" admitted Max.

"Why are you nervous about cars?" asked Laura. Max hadn't told her something and she was curious.

"Something that happened." Laura sighed, Max seemed to take vagueness to a completely new level.

The crime scene was processed in relative quiet. Laura had phoned the others to tell them they would be late back. It was probably going to be a long night.

--

Please review


	43. Truth or dare add stress equals disaster

Wooh no school!!! Wednesday was the best day with Monday and Thursday close joint second. Wednesday I passed a physics test, then Maths was fun with just talking really, then creative writing was funny, I actually stayed in the room and mucked around like the others, then lunch was the science Christmas party.

As a biology student I had to do food so me and my friend made punch, unfortunately it couldn't be alcoholic :(, but instead there it was 2L of cherryade, 2L fanta fruit twist and 1L of energy drink. After about ten cups of the stuff I was bouncing of the roof, which brings me to my last lesson, biology with _that woman_, if _she_ didn't hate me before _she_ does now, about half the class was hyper on the punch, we were giggling at everything and singing Christmas songs off key, and _she_ was trying to get us to do exam style questions. Trying to explain to _her_ that I hate essay questions is impossible. I think it brought my class together a bit.

Monday had the best news, we don't have _her_ anymore!! and Thursday was great because I only had one lesson because I accidentally missed personal tutor again. It isn't my fault I sleep through it and only get the email half an hour after i was supposed to turn up. oops.

--

Two days later the group were on their way to Wales. Laura had been asking Max subtle questions about the reason she was nervous around cars. Max wasn't phased, she was a ninja. Even Louise would have a hard time getting anything out of her.

The ninjas were wandering around Cardiff in groups, it was still another day until they were due to catch the train to Hogwarts.

"Rho?" Max's head whipped around to see who yelled her name. Itachi looked too. Itachi didn't know it was her alias but from Max's reaction it was obviously something.

"Who are you and how do you know that name?" Max demanded as she was approached by a man who looked like he had just come out of the second world war as an RAF pilot.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness. A friend told me about you, he said you could help, which is something I could do with right now"

"I can do a lot of things, help… isn't always on that list"

"Can we take this somewhere more private, I don't want to be overheard out here?" the American accent set him aside for the normal welsh accent of most people around them.

"Uh… no, bye" Max grabbed Itachi's arm and they were quickly hidden by small crowd, by the time it had dispersed they were long gone.

They got to Hogwarts with no more extreme incidents. Max was grateful they took the train, she would put up with it until she felt safer in a car.

Dumbledore had been surprised when they turned up, the whole of the great hall was waiting in anticipation for what Max would say about anything. Her reputation preceded her.

"Hem, hem" Dumbledore's little speech was interrupted by the pink wearing toad woman. Max zoned out as the woman started on her speech but decided to cause some chaos part way through.

"Hem, hem" Max coughed mimicking Umbridge's cough.

"Do you have something you need to say?"

"Huh, oh… no, I just had to clear my throat, it's a medical condition. It only acts up when I hear some bullcrap" Max replied in a fake childlike voice. This brought some sniggers from the hall.

"You should get that checked out Miss…."

"Trino, Nu Trino" Umbridge raised an eyebrow. From the Gryffindor table Hermione was sniggering, she understood, as did some of the other muggleborns.

"Oh, you want my real name, why didn't you say so? Reading body language is so time consuming"

"What is you name?"

"Max Hakie, Slytherin fifth year, pain in teachers backside, legendary for her amazing performance in the triwizard tournament despite not remembering parts of it due to intoxication" Max would have gone on if she hadn't been inturupted

"Right then Miss Hakie, I believe one week of detention will do you good," smirked Umbridge as if she was the toad who had gotten the fly.

"Good luck with that, I don't do detention, if you read the contract between shinobi and the ministry you'll see why" Max was bluffing, it would by her time for a better excuse though.

"So you're one of them then," sneered the woman.

"You want to know something," Max said, seemingly going off at a tangent. She carried on before she could be interrupted.

"Wouldn't it be cool to have telepathy and telekinesis you could read what the enemy's thinking but kick his ass from 20 meters away with out a single movement? The thing is I don't need either to kick you ass from 100 meters away." The look of indignation of Umbridge's face was totally worth it.

Shame she was still banned from drinking alcohol, with the injuries she was getting she would probably have to lead an alcohol free life, but she would have been able to turn up to DADA drunk. It could have been quite funny. She would just have to manage with a fully caffeinated system.

Most of the fifth year Slytherin students were already looking forward to their first DADA lesson.

"Miss Hakie, please sit down and let us get on with the announcements"

"Jeez, every ones a critic" Max groaned as she took her seat. The announcements continued and Max was silent until the last one.

"…And don't forget that the Dark lord is once again among us so be cautious"

"That is complete Bullcrap!" Max could not keep quiet about that. Umbridge looked ready to give her a standing ovation despite hating her guts.

"I'm afraid its not"

"I saw him die"

"I fear he may be immortal"

"You fear is not needed. He is dead. He took all of the bits of soul and killed himself"

"Miss Hakie if you would meet me in my office to discuss this at a later date I would be grateful"

"Uh…No, does this look like the kind of person who trusts you after all you've done" Max said fuming. She remembered the many times he had tried to pull one over her.

"Let's eat," said Dumbledore trying to smooth over the subject. He didn't notice Max disappear from her spot nor Itachi follow seconds later. He found her in her usual place, top of the tallest tower. He silently handed over the food he had grabbed before he had left.

"Thank you" Max whispered, she had been close to loosing her calm, the stress of things were beginning to get to her. It happened to all ANBU at some stage, Itachi had had his when he was in Akatsuki, Kakashi had had his during the invasion when Max had been captured and Yuri had had hers when Max had pranked her for the billionth time.

Itachi knew what she was going through, as soon as they got back he was going to make her take her holiday time. He would keep an eye on her until then.

The ultimate stress relief came in the form of revenge in DADA a couple of weeks later. Umbridge had stated on about half breeds. Max was high on caffeine.

"How would you know half-breeds are less intelligent?" Max demanded.

"They aren't fully human so they can't be"

"Lets see how you like being a half breed then" with that Max withdrew her wand and with out saying a word she cast a spell hitting Umbridge in the head.

"What have you done, I'll have you arrested for this"

"I didn't know half breeds were allowed to warrant arrests on pure humans," Max said mockingly. Umbridge then noticed her hind legs. She was now technically a centaur. A half-breed, something she despised.

"Change me back!"

"I don't know how, sorry" Max said in the least apologetic way she could.

Max was hailed as a hero by the other houses.

All of the Kunoichi were currently in Max and Temari's room having a sleep over as a kind of celebration for it. The only one not there was Sakura, they had 'forgotten' to invite her.

All of them were sitting on pillows wearing their PJs in a circle talking about random things. Max had a bad feeling when Ino suggested they play a game. Truth or dare. Max was about to turn tail and flee when she was tackled by the others.

"Lemme go, I don't want to play," she implored but it fell on deaf ears, she saw Laura holding her stash of blood pops and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing with those?" she asked slowly as if talking with a donkey on the edge.

"If you don't play then these will accidentally find their way to the pack of thestrals." Laura threatened. Max had found that the thestrals liked them almost as much as she did. She thought about it but the loss would be too high. She sighed and nodded. The other squealed and got of her. They returned to their circle.

"Laura starts," said Temari. Max was really worried about the group they all had grins on.

"Ok, Ino truth or dare?" she asked.

"Truth"

"What are you feelings about Theo?" Ino blushed.

"I really like him, but I don't know if he likes me back," she confessed quietly the others giggled a bit, some of them had seen the Slytherin staring at Ino.

"Hinata truth or dare?" she asked more boldly.

"I choose…. Truth"

"Well I won't ask who you like as it's obvious but instead I'll ask when are you going to tell him you like him"

"I was planning to tell him at the Yule ball, if we stay that long," the girls 'aw'ed.

"Ok Max truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"How did you get the bullet wound?"

"I got shot"

"Expand, Max, expand you answer, pretend you're in english"

"But I answered your question"

"Max… Who has your blood pops?"

"Fine! I was shot in Vegas by a hit and run. The van crashed into the car I was in then shot the two people in the front, two bullets missed and hit me one in the stomach and the other grazed my shoulder. All because cars are too small to move around in. Enough detail?" Max seethed, then she baulked, she hadn't meant to say that much. The girls were in silence staring at her wide eyed.

"If you just going to stare at me then I'm going to go" Max said as she got up to leave.

"No! Stay! We still have more games but first we finish this game," said Laura, she had to follow through with her plan, it was her masterpiece. The threat of what would happen to her blood pops.

"Fine" Max sat back down and the game continued, people were only picking truths and they weren't even asking her, and it was beginning to get on Max's nerves.

"Max, truth or dare"

"Since the rest of you are cowards I choose dare," she didn't want to get asked another question that she would regret answering. Max immediately regretted this decision.

"Go to the boy's bathroom and take the set of clothes from the person in the shower" Max had a feeling of impending doom but she wasn't one to back down from a dare so she set out on her quest, using all her stealth skills that she possessed. She returned ten minutes later triumphantly and dumped the pile of clothing by the door.

"There, done" she declared sitting down heavily, she had been to busy trying to remain unnoticed that she hadn't noticed whose clothes she had taken, the other how ever knew having planed the whole thing. They really were more devious than anyone gave them credit for. Besides it was doing Max a favour, for all the times she had tried to match make it was their turn.

A couple of truth or dares later and they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Max being closest went to open it. When she did she had never been so glad for ANBU training in hiding emotions.

In front of her was Itachi standing in just a towel around his waist still dripping wet from what Max assumed was the shower. Why was he wandering around in a towel?

Then it clicked, the clothes she had been dared to take were his, once again she was glad for the training and self-control. She raised an eyebrow trying her hardest not to blush. It got more difficult when she noticed how defined his chest was.

"Yes?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where my clothes are would you; they seem to have gone missing"

"Why do you think I had something to do with it?" asked Max feigning innocence, she loved how she could lie convincingly.

"Max, I was on your team for at least four years, you've done it before. Remember that C rank delivery, I was trying to get clean in a river and my clothes went missing." Of course Max remembered it, it had been the best laugh she and Hana had had in a while. Yuri had tried to hide her amusement but the two girls hadn't.

"I still say I was framed by Hana," it had been Hana's suggestion. Itachi noticed the other girls in the room staring at him.

"Can we talk in the hall way so I won't end up with a fan club tomorrow?"

"It's probably too late for that but ok" Max agreed and they stepped outside and closed the door. The silence filled the corridor as Itachi only then noticed how little Max was actually wearing. All she had on was a short black tank top and red boxers. Her silver hair seemed to move as the light from the torches flickered. Max was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. What unnerved her more was how cold the corridor felt even with a few weeks till Christmas.

She was caught completely unaware when a set of lips touched hers lightly.

For the first time in Max's life her mind was blank. The normal thoughts that would be whizzing around were gone… they had just frozen. They didn't notice the door open and Laura taking a few pictures. To steal Max's phrase 'one can never have to much blackmail'. Max wasn't even aware she had reacted on instinct kissing back. Her arms were around his neck, tangled in his hair.

The mood was so perfect it had to be spoilt. Who better to spoil it than Itachi's brother? Sasuke opened his door to head to the common room when he saw Max and Itachi kissing.

"Get a room," he groaned averting his eyes. Max moved back on instinct like a deer caught in the head lights, her eyes were wide. She took a step back then turned and fled disappearing half way down the corridor as she shushined away.

The other side of a door, four girls were pressed against it trying to figure out what had just happened.

"I bet she's bolted," announced Laura, her face twisted into a frown. She hadn't thought Max would react this badly, they say emotional scars take longer to heal but with Max anything was possible. Sometimes reading Max was like reading her handwriting in a mix of Greek, Japanese and German. Hinata activated her bloodline and nodded.

"She's bailed," Hinata confirmed. Laura sighed exasperatedly; this was not part of the plan.

Itachi glared at his brother who squeaked and quickly disappeared back into his room. There was no point looking for Max, if she didn't want to be found then she wouldn't be. He would at least make an effort. First he would get dressed though Itachi thought then he remembered the reason he was outside the girl's room. He would get his stuff later so he would be interrogated by the inhabitants of that room.

--

Review please I love having reasons to update, the next chapter is certainly interesting :P


	44. More confrontations

Wooh Christmas! Shame about the lack of snow so far.

Could be happier but for reasons not my own fault I'm not as happy.

This is my Christmas prezzie to you guys, if you don't celebrate Christmas then its a winter gift. Enjoy it all the same

--

This is dedicated to two of my best friends, one of whom has kept me sane this holiday and the character Laura is based, and the other who loves this story and keeps me sane at other times and may have a character based on her at a later point in this story, so thanks to them.

--

Finding Max when she doesn't want to be found is like trying to corner a wild animal and expecting to stay unharmed. Or trying to find a matching pair of socks.

It was impossible. Itachi had only seen a fraction of her contacts on earth, if she wanted to disappear completely then she could. He blamed the girls for this and he blamed himself for not telling them what she was going through. Anyone who had been ANBU for any length of time was dangerous when they began to stress. Max was no exception. It was amazing she had held on this long.

It was three days later, approaching sunrise and there was still no sign of her. Itachi sighed and headed back to the castle, Max could look after herself, the others, he didn't have as much faith in. He walked into the great hall just in time to see Dumbledore throw a hex at Max who was crouched in the wall.

Seconds before impact Max jumped to another part of the hall, she was passively fighting not actually doing the fighting just dodging the blows. Dumbledore looked incensed, his red face contrasting his hair and beard.

"So what were you going to do with that large order of compulsion potions, and why did they need to be from somewhere not watched by the ministry?" Max had clearly made a break in the mission. Though knowing her she could have known it for a while and had just forgotten it.

A shuriken skimmed Dumbledore's hand cutting open the skin on the back. His hand opened reflexively dropping his wand which was caught in the hole of another shuriken that had been thrown seconds after the shuriken in its shadow. The second shrunken hit the wall and was wedged between two stones.

The ball was in Max's court, she had the advantage now, she had trained in unarmed combat and she still had her weapons. Itachi stayed at the side, Max was handling this, he would help if he was needed. Besides if he jumped in now it would bruise Max's ego and she would maim him.

Dumbledore was looking at Max calculatingly, he had no wand and his wandless skills were severely limited. Things would have been so much simpler for him if one of his previous attempts had succeeded. He and Max were circling looking for a time to strike.

Max had been unusually passive about it and he was slightly worried. From what he had observed through the years she tended to be a bit aggressive, though no one got hurt, seriously hurt anyway. The glint of the shuriken gave Dumbledore an idea, it would take his limited wandless ability to do but if he timed it right he could get rid of the annoyance in front of him. He would need to distract her for a bit though or she would notice and it wouldn't work and possibly make things worse.

Max didn't like the way Dumbledore was exceedingly calm despite his red face. Anyone with out a weapon who didn't have something up his sleeves would be looking scared or even a tiny bit worried. She felt something prodding at her mental shields and threw it back momentarily taking her concentration away from her surroundings.

Dumbledore flicked his wrist, a movement caught by Itachi, but meant nothing to Max her concentration had wavered, she couldn't see the wandless summoning spell sent at the shuriken that was currently in the wall, she couldn't see it fly through the air heading straight for her.

It never touched her. Max span around when she heard metal hit flesh and saw Itachi, he didn't look too steady and looked like he was about to fall forwards. Itachi stumbled. His breathing was irregular and laboured, Max saw the glint of a shuriken sticking out of his back, but the looks of it the shuriken was deep between two ribs and had probably punctured a lung. He needed medical help soon.

Max remembered Dumbledore behind her, she was not going to let him escape, no after the latest stunt, no one hurt her team mate. With a flick of her fingers two sebon were launched at the headmaster hitting him in the neck into a false death state that Haku had taught her. The old man crumpled to the ground but Max didn't care, she moved over to Itachi.

He was kneeling on the floor with a hand pressed to his ribs as if trying to stop the pain, blood was dripping down his back and his lips were turning blue. Max reached to a pocket and quickly withdrew a scroll, she unsealed a first aid kid and got out an occlusive dressing, she removed the shuriken carefully then his shirt and quickly applied the dressing over the wound on his back. It would keep the hole sealed and allow him to breath easier due to the air tightness of the dressing.

"Itachi, stay with me, you have to stay awake, if you fall asleep now I'll turn you hair green for a week" Max threatened, that last part make him jerk back to reality.

"Not… the hair" Itachi was definitely not in good shape but it didn't seem to be getting worse. His breathing was still jagged and he was coughing up small amounts of blood but he was still there.

"You heard me, you faint and I'll turn you hair green, I think a shade of lime green should do it" Max was just glad she was getting a response, she would never admit that she had been scared.

The first kids were trickling in for breakfast and saw the scene. At least one of them ran and Max hoped it was for Madam Pomfrey. Another ran for Dumbledore.

She couldn't exactly leave Itachi here but she didn't know if moving him would do anymore damage. She was trained in first aid not internal injuries. She tended to take more lives than save them.

"You killed Dumbledore!" yelled a kid. Other gasped at the declaration.

"I didn't, his still alive, just paralysed and in a death state because he tried to kill me," snarled Max.

"You killed him!"

"It was either me or him, I chose him before he almost killed me"

"You kill…"

"Jeez not again, first Misa now Hogwarts. Who else is going to blame me for killing someone, whom I did not kill?"

Laura rushed into the great hall and immediately took over. She had seen someone running past saying something about blood in the great hall. Max sat back and let her work, she didn't want to make things worse, she would have left had she not been called to assist. More ninjas turned up and made sure Dumbledore was fully subdued.

They eventually got Itachi stabilised, he had fallen unconscious at some point, Laura couldn't do much, her jutsus needed too much control, and Hogwarts mucked it up. Max took Itachi to the hospital wing, she was the only one nearby who could with out resorting to magic. Magic just seemed too clumsy for the job.

She wondered how many times she had been in Itachi's position. Did she always look that fragile when she had been injured? Is this the kind of thing they saw when she jumped in head first without thinking?

Maybe she would have to listen to them for once.

Max stayed by Itachi's side, she wasn't going to leave her team mate, he had never left her side when she had been injured when he had been there. To be fair on missions he didn't know about he couldn't have been, like in Vegas, it wasn't his fault. When she got to the hospital wing she was adamant about staying, Madam Pomfrey had tried to shoo her out but failed. In the end the woman had muttered something and let her stay.

It only took half a day for Itachi to wake up properly, Max had fallen asleep on a chair next to the bed. He at least assumed she was asleep, she did have a habit of being awake but not making it obvious.

Madam Pomfrey, on seeing he was awake, bustled over to check his injury and while Max was asleep do a check up on her as well. Max rarely was still long enough to be given a medical examination.

"Did you know she's been shot by a muggle firearm?" asked the nurse frowning. Itachi nodded his head slightly, he'd had his suspicions but this confirmed it, he would get the full story eventually. He really wanted to know why she hadn't told him or anyone else, she was supposed to be his partner. If she was injured and he didn't know it could have gotten worse. That and he really cared about her, he could guarantee she hadn't looked after it much so someone needed to.

"What is it with diagnosis spells and the ticklish feeling; do you get kicks out of disturbing me?" Max groaned. She stretched her legs out, she had been leaning on them, her knees up to her chin. She made a mental note to not sleep like that again, it wasn't the most comfortable position. She stood up into a full stretched and winced as the skin over the bullet hole was pulled taut. Her back popped a few times and she sighed.

"Well, if you're done disturbing me then I'm sure there's someone else needing to be put in discomfort." Max almost snapped. Itachi was wondering how much sleep Max actually got, she wasn't normally this grumpy, more goofy when she was sleep deprived.

"You shouldn't be stressing your self with that injury" reprimanded the nurse.

"Shouldn't but have been, I'm still standing aren't I?"

"You've been shot in the stomach and shoulder, you've had less than six hours sleep in the last week which shouldn't even be possible, you don't seem to have eaten anything substantial for that week and you have multiple other smaller injuries. If you continue to disregard your own health I'll have no choice to confine you here until you are in full health," reprimanded the nurse sternly, she had her wand out ready to stun Max if it became necessary. Max looked to Itachi silently pleading him to say no.

"Max. Stand down, as the nearest thing to your superior I'm ordering you to get some sleep." Itachi almost cancelled that order when he saw the hurt look Max sent his way but he stayed firm.

Max was cornered, Itachi recognised the look in her eye, it was one similar to the night a few days ago. She was going to bolt again. He changed tactics.

"Max, please, you need sleep" Itachi didn't like pleading with Max but he knew it was the only way to win in this situation. Especially if he pouted a bit.

"Fine!" Max grumbled exasperatedly, if she was going to do this she was going to annoy him in the process. So she stole his blanket and pillow and curled up on the floor.

"Wouldn't you prefer to be on a bed?" asked the nurse.

"No, I prefer to be comfortable and those beds are like sleeping on asphalt littered with glass," mumbled Max from under her newly 'acquired' blanket. It was comfortable and warm, before she knew it she was asleep.

Itachi rolled his eyes and got the blankets from the bed nearby. He was tempted to curl up on the floor too. Instead he got comfortable while trying tot block out the woman who was trying to tell him how to look after his team mate.

Max was like a puppy, if you didn't keep and eye on her then she would do something stupid. Most of the time it would also include her getting hurt.

Finally the nurse left him alone so he could get some rest.

Four hours later Laura could feel a twinge in her hand. She knew there was nothing wrong with it, it was like an alert for possible blackmail material. Her only source of possible blackmail was in the hospital wing. Smirking to herself she packed up her work and headed over to it. Who was she to pass up the opportunity to even the blackmail?

It was defiantly worth it, by the looks of it Max had fallen asleep on the floor. Laura knew Max hated the beds here so that wasn't surprising. What was surprising was the fact Itachi was curled up to her his arms wrapped around her waist. From the positions of the creases on the bed he had probably rolled off on to the floor and moved to the nearest warm thing. The nearest warm thing being Max.

Laura noticed Max stirring a bit and decided to quickly get a few pictures then go, she didn't want to take her chances.

Max woke up not long later and had a dilemma, on the one hand no one was awake to stop her from disregarding her orders, on the other hand, if she tried to escape the person hugging her would wake up and her plan would fail.

Decisions, decisions. Why was Itachi on the floor curled up to her anyway? When did this happen? Max couldn't help but be confused. The lack of sleep was defiantly getting to her, she would just prefer to deal with it on her own terms.

As for dealing with the situation now, she would sleep. Well it would be quite funny when Itachi woke to see his reaction. She would probably wake when he did. He would have to deal with it though and she could play the part of being completely confused and maybe act a bit naive. Besides, he was comfortable and warm.

By the Hogwarts gates a visitor stood, he looked at the place that had been his home for a few years. He wondered who had changed and who hadn't. Whether the ninjas were around or not. If Dumbledore has slipped up yet. The visitor started his trek up to the castle, he would check the hospital wing first, most news tended to be around there.

Itachi woke to an awkward set of circumstances, he had felt something shivering in his arms and automatically tighten his hold. Only then had he realised who it was and the fact anyone could have walked in and seen. For all the prodigy he was he had no clue about getting out of this with all of his limbs still attached.

He couldn't tell if Max was awake or not but he decided to take a dive. He moved a hand to stroke her hair, he loved the way it shimmered in the light like liquid silver. He didn't want to let her go. He wanted to know who shot her so he could tear them limb from limb. He wanted to know why she didn't look after herself.

"I do look after my self." Itachi looked at the girl in front of him in surprise. When did she learn to read minds?

"I can't read minds. You're talking out loud. Stop it so I can sleep" Itachi frowned, Max wasn't asking about why he was there, was she that tired or did she just not mind.

"You're warm and comfortable, now stop talking!" Max hissed trying to burrow under the blanket more, she rolled over to face him in an attempt to get more comfortable. Itachi assumed he was mumbling what he was thinking, it wasn't unheard of with tired ninjas. He was cut off from his mumbling/thinking when he felt a pair of soft lips on his, effectively stopping him from both mumbling and thinking.

In his opinion the kiss ended too soon but he couldn't really complain. Max snuggled up properly and was glad she could get some sleep. Itachi couldn't help but grin, Max had a small smile as well as she drifted of to sleep.

"So you two finally got together?" both shinobi scrambled to their feet withdrawing weapons from various hiding places. Max was ready to kill someone for interrupting her sleep when she was finally content, friend or foe.

--

More fluff, yay, don't you just love the stuff. This chapter was inspired by April sixth's Dear angel, it a good song. Anyway review please. I have three exams soon so update should be normal due to my lack of interest in revison and the fact I keep staying up late.


	45. Babysitting & the Truth about a Basilisk

Happy new year to all the people who read this. I know it was a few days ago but hey, I didn't have time to update, two sleepovers in four days.

This has something that was requested ages back, I finally found a way to put it in.

-

"Harry?" Max used FA quickly to confirm it. She smiled and hugged him. She looked over Harry to make sure nothing was wrong. She knew he was quite like her in playing down any injuries but was glad to find him in good health. Then Max started shivering so went back to her blanket, Itachi drew her under his as well causing Harry to smirk a little. Had they actually realised their feelings that were obvious to seemingly everyone but them?

"Damn your tall, stop growing its bad for you. What brings you to this death trap anyway? And where's Draco" asked Max, she seemed oblivious to the close contact between herself and Itachi.

"Draco's with his girlfriend back in Japan, I graduated last week and Hogwarts needs a temporary DADA teacher, something happened to the old one," Itachi sniggered, he'd heard what had happened in the class but then again the whole school had.

Max figure Harry would graduate early, in the Kanto Institute you were allowed to work at your own pace, as soon as you finished the courses you could graduate.

"Yeah I heard about that, the DADA teacher anyway. How could Draco not tell me of his girlfriend? I wouldn't scare her, I'm not crazy" said Max innocently. Harry raised an eyebrow, there was a snowballs chance in hell she wasn't involved or even not crazy.

"Jeez, ok I did it, it was me. She was a cow, and now she's a centaur" Max couldn't help but giggle at the memory.

"What brings you two to the hospital wing?" asked Harry, none of them looked fatally injured or even injured enough to be confined to their beds. Though only one looked slept in…

"General disregard for my own health" said Max simply.

"Saving her when the bastard tried to kill her and making sure she recovers from disregarding her own health"

"Nothing new then, you never did care much for your own safety did you Max? Remember the basilisk" Max glared at him, only the four of them who went into the chamber knew the entire story, she had left it out of her written report for a reason.

"How could I forget something like that, it was insane, as in worse than Lou insane" grumbled Max, she had really wanted that basilisk as a pet, until she realised it had gone loco in the chamber on its own.

"Who's Lou?" asked Harry. Itachi was having a bad feeling about the snake; if it was as insane as Lou then it was dangerous. If it was worse, it was better of dead.

"A friend"

"What happened with the snake then." This was one of the incidents that hadn't quite made it to a report. Max had deemed it highly dangerous because if an enemy got hold of it things would be bad. That and she would be carted of to a looney bin for sure.

"Well…"

_Flashback_

_Max, Harry, Draco and Laura were walking cautiously into the main chamber, they had knocked out Lockhart at the entrance and the other ninjas were keeping the rest of the school occupied._

"_Here likle basilisk" Max called out. Laura clamped a hand over Max's mouth._

"_Are you trying to get us killed?" Laura hissed, Max looked at her clearly saying 'I would answer but you hand is in the way' then she shrugged._

"_Would you mind not trying to get us killed, it would put a dent in my day," said Draco as he brushed invisible lint off his robes. He and Harry were the only ones wearing robes, Max was in her standard ninja attire and Laura was just wearing normal muggle clothing._

"_I hear it," Harry said perking his head up to listen some more._

"_I don't believe this, its singing" the other looked at him in disbelief._

"_What's it singing?"_

"_Dude looks like a lady…" Max punched her hand in the air in triumph. She had managed to get it stuck in everyone's head._

"_Do you think it would agree to be my pet? I would feed it and take it for walks. Pleeeease" Max begged. The other three looked at her._

"_You want a 12 foot snake that can kill you with a look and is highly venomous"_

"_Yup"_

"_How do you take snakes for walks anyway?" mused Laura._

"_Well you can ask it yourself its coming this way, everyone cover you eyes"_

"_**Oh, visitors, how rude of me to not invite you in properly, where are my manners, it been so long since I've had visitors**__"_

"_Oh, dear Merlin's left nut sack, it's a girl snake"_

"_What's so bad about girls?" Max demanded._

"_She's moaning about her manners"_

"_**I haven't even introduced myself, I am Morgana, Named after Salazar's dear Ex-girlfriend. Charming woman but slightly crazy**__" said the snake, Max could see it using its tail to take out a few chairs and a table. Harry translated the snake's speech into English for the others. Max recoiled, her ancestor was crazy, it would explain where she got it from, that's assuming craziness was genetic._

"_**Please sit, I wont bite and I have my eyes closed**__" Max confirmed this when Harry translated and the group sat._

"_**What brings you four to my humble abode?**__"_

"_**We were just curious, students were getting petrified and they seemed to be coming from here**__"_

"_**Oh, it was that Man, Tom Riddle, pain in the tail he was, he said I should go and try to make friends with the students, but they all fell asleep, I didn't know they got petrified**__"_

"_Could you do us a favour, we need the students to feel safe her so could we pretend to fight, then they wouldn't be so scared and shut the school, if it got shut you'd be all alone" asked Max._

"_**Of course human, I always wanted to be an actress but Salazar was adamant that I be his pet so I never got the chance, lets star now, you have a ten second head start before I come for you. FOOLS!!! Trying to trick a snake like me**__" Max was rethinking her whole have the snake as a pet as Harry translated. She grabbed the other three and ran for the tunnel back to the bathroom. She was using a ton of her chakra to lift the other and stick to the floor of the tunnel and still gain enough momentum to reach the top._

"_That snake is psycho!" Draco yelled as they burst from the tunnel._

"_Gee thanks for the update Captain Obvious" hissed Laura._

"_You three get out head to the great hall to warn everyone, I'll stall the snake," ordered Max. They three didn't need to be told twice. Max withdrew her wand and waved it. The things she did during lessons were never on the syllabus. In front of her was a long line of thick rope. Max quickly tied a few knots in some places and placed it over the hole. _

_When she heard the snake coming she slipped her headband over her eyes and activated FA. As the snake emerged from the hole, the rope neatly fell over it head like a bridle. Max had used some cloth to blindfold it and was now stood on the back of its neck holding the reigns._

"_To the Great hall" Max declared pulling on the reigns. The snake obeyed and slithered down the halls, finding the way by scent not vision._

_Flashback interrupted_

"So that's how you did it, we wondered how you managed to get the reigns on it" said Harry in amazement. Itachi was still kind of shell shocked from the story so far.

"Yep, it took a while to find my balance, I almost fell of a few times on the way"

"Let me get this straight, you rode a basilisk to the great hall, one that was psycho and wanted to kill you" asked Itachi. Max nodded causing Itachi to roll his eyes and hug her closer, he was not about to let her do something stupid like that again.

_Back to flashback_

_The great snake burst through the big doors to the great hall and let out a cry of anguish, Max atop its back. Everyone cowered in fear at the might of…_

_Flashback interrupted again_

"Now you know that isn't true, you're just exaggerating," said Harry who rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, spoil my fun"

_Flashback… again_

_Some of the first years fainted at the sight, the older ones clearly had fear in their eyes, the teachers moved to protect the students wands raised. The sorting hat appeared on likle Harrykins and he drew from it the Sword of Gryffindor. Max bravely steered the great snake towards him. The snake picked up his scent and dived for him knocking Max off balance. She tried to stop the snake from attempting to eat Harry but it was too late. _

_The snake opened its great jaws only to be impaled on the sword that pierced its tiny brain. Max had been thrown forwards and since she was still holding onto the reigns she swung toward the dead snakes mouth, slamming into one of the fangs getting a huge gash on her leg. _

_The teachers rushed forward to check on the two brave students Max was covered in the snakes spit and some venom, luckily Fawkes was on hand so she didn't die. Harry had been impaled by the other big fang so it was removed and Fawkes saved him too with the healing tears._

_End flashback_

"So you almost died, that makes what, 8 times, including the pea incident"

"Its not always my fault, besides that pea didn't like me, it was mocking me"

"Max. It was a pea, not a high class missing nin but a pea"

"Don't you have somewhere to be, I would prefer less witnesses" asked Max sweetly to Harry. He did the sensible thing and run.

"Now I'm going back to sleep"

"…" Max really was confusing sometimes but really adorable when she slept.

Dumbledore sat in his cell cursing Max's very existence, he wished he'd never heard of ninjas or even considered hiring help. There was no way out of the mess he found himself in. No one trusted him anymore after Max's stunt. He cursed the girl again and set about plotting. He would get his revenge. A guard came passed on his rounds with a newspaper in his pocket.

On the front in big letter was the headline 'New Kira?' Maybe his revenge would be quicker, he just needed to contact this Kira. He had read the articles abut the murderer, he would be perfect to kill the bane of Dumbledore life.

The ninjas stayed a week longer to ensure there were no more threats to the school. It took a bit to get the older years to accept Harry as their teacher but he was very persuasive.

It wasn't long before Max was called onto a new case. She had been sitting in a park watching the sun set when her phone had rung, the one she had for Mu.

"Speak to me" Max said as she answered the phone.

"Mu?"

"What do you need help with now L?" Max recognised the scrambler.

"There's a new Kira"

"What do you want me to do about it? You're the genius detective"

"You're the only other person who knows about the Death note…"

"The answer's no" Max said and she hung up. She was not going to be dragged into another case so soon, she needed a break after Hogwarts.

It was a week later when the ninjas were all back home Max had made a firm decision to not go via Vegas, she doubted the CSI's would appreciate it.

The team Max had babysat had found her first. Their teacher was on another mission and once again Max was being dragged in kicking and screaming.

"I know for a fact you have other jounin that you could assign to this mission so why me?"

"it isn't fair on them if they keep getting new teachers at the drop of a hat, you know what there capable of"

"I know a lot of things but is it really wise, I'm not the best teacher, hell I shouldn't be allowed near impressionable kids"

"I'll tell you something, when their teacher entered them into the chunin exam I wasn't too hopeful about any of them passing. When I assigned you to the team I had a bit of hope but I didn't think they would get past the second exam. You smashed the expectations I had for you, they not only passed the second exam but one even got to the second round of the third part"

"All I did was turn up and antagonise them a bit and give them a motive to do well"

"So do it again or you'll be doing D-ranks for a long time"

"I'll take the babysitting then" Max was already thinking of ways to bug the team. She still had that psychology book, she would just need to change it a tiny bit and tada instant humour when she uses it as bait in a training exercise.

"Dodge the kunai!" Max yelled the next day, she was getting the trio up to a better dodging standard. She had said that any of them who didn't have to go to the hospital could give the other two a forfeit.

"I'm trying!" At the moment Hoshi wasn't doing to well.

"Do or do not, there is no 'try'," smirked Max and she launched another barrage and the three of them.

The trio were caught unaware when Max threw some that weren't even directed at them.

"Unless you here to tell me I don't have to babysit anymore I don't want to hear it" Max said as Naruto tumbled out of the tree line.

"Nah, I was hoping you would train me too, Sasuke's being taught some Sharingan thing by Itachi and Kakashi is on some mission"

"What part of 'I don't want to hear it' did you not hear?"

"Could be worse"

"What could be worse than this? I'm babysitting," said Max, she had resumed throwing projectiles at the students.

"You could still be at Hogwarts"

"I plan on never setting foot in that place ever again" the students noticed the throwing getting more vicious. Max obviously had some bad memories of this 'Hogwarts' place.

"What's Hogwarts?" asked Hoshi, the only one brave enough to actually ask.

"None of your business, I suppose you can train too, the rest of you can take five"

"Thank you so much, I thought I was going to go insane. So what are we going to do? Can I learn one of your techniques?"

"No I will not teach you my techniques, you can help me teach these little people water walking, they've done tree walking,"

"Ok" Naruto missed Max's smirk, he had no idea she was planning to skive her job. She really hated babysitting a genin team.

"Could you start them off, I am so hungry right now I could eat a horse" Naruto nodded and Max put her book down and disappeared with very little intention to return. Before Naruto could usher the students to the nearest body of water one of them snatched up the book.

"Is that Max's book?" asked Naruto nervously.

"Yup" Ju said opening the book to a random page.

"Is reading that wise?" Naruto had heard of Max's stories and tricks.

"Sure, she said it was full of wisdom and vital to a ninja" Hoshi took the book before Ju could read a word.

"If you're sure…"

"We're ninjas, besides it's a book," Kyo said confidently taking the book out of Hoshi's hands. The three of them crowded around the book to read. Naruto was wondering what their reactions would be.

"What in the name of Kami is this?" the three recoiled almost violently and were wiping their hands as if the book had been diseased.

"What chapter is it?" he knew the book, it had two parts, on half was graphic descriptions of her missions and the other was gay porn. She often left it lying around for kicks. However, when Anko had found it she had trouble getting it back.

"16" Naruto shook his head and tutted.

"So did Jay get with Gary in the end?" the student looked at him and fainted. Naruto looked at them and sighed.

"Tsunade's going to kill Max"

"Did they read it?" Max said as she returned five minutes later holing a cup of ramen for Naruto. Naruto nodded before taking the cup and digging in.

"I could have sworn I told them don't judge a book by its cover"

"You're cruel Max, really cruel"

"I do my best" both of them sat down to wait for the trio to wake up. Max was playing her panpipes with one hand and holding the book open with her other hand.

"How can you read that stuff?" grimaced Naruto, after reading the book he didn't think his mind would be the same again. Max stopped playing and looked at him.

"I wrote it, I reckon I could publish it as my own series, it could become the next icha"

"You want to wake them up? Tsunade told you to train them not let them sleep"

"Got any water?" grinned Max mischievously.

"That's cruel!"

"I know, why do you think I do it?"

"Because you're annoyed that Tsunade stuck you doing this"

"Damn, you're onto me" Max said looking around shiftily, she reached into her pouch and drew out two water balloons. Naruto raised an eyebrow, there were three students.

Max threw them both simultaneously at one either side, the splashed hitting the middle person. The trio were instantly alert, Max had resumed her previous position and was softly playing the panpipes while reading.

"I think you three should take a break, you just fainted out of the blue"

"No. It wasn't out of the blue; you see, we were reading your book…"

"You read my book, how could you?"

"Its not a psychology book its gay porn"

"Same thing really. So you only read after chapter 15?"

"What's before?"

"After your encounter with this book do you really want to know?" the three of them shared a look that was defiantly of traumatized kids.

"I'll take that as a no then, back to work! You too Naruto to the river, you four are going to be water walking until you can do it in you sleep. If you do manage to water walk to a decent standard then I'll get you all lunch, Deal?" offered Max, the way to train is often thought their stomach.

"Deal!"

--

Exams are coming, one every week for the next three weeks, joy...

Please give feedback, this part is comming to a close soon, I think it will finish at chapter 50 give or take.


	46. A Series of Unfortunate Events

Sorry about the gap between updates, its been a while sine the last update but I've had exams.. OK I've had one so far, My C1 maths, up to question seven it was fine then the remaining three question hit me like a brick wall. i only have two more exams this term, Biology later today and chemistry in six days. I really need to revise for chem so don't expect an update till after it. So far I've done two mocks for it, I got one U and an E.

Question answering: There will be at least one more part so don't worry about that, I already have plans for it. It will have more crossovers but not as many. it start when Max turns 17 and will go on for a year or to in my story. There will probably be at least on or two parts after that.

Angsty Warning: contains deaths so be warned.

--

Max only had to deal with the trio for a week before she was requested for a mission. Land of the waves beckoned her. Someone was muscling in on where Gatou had left off so many years ago. She responded promptly and was there within the day with Rem on her tail. The death god had been exploring while Max was babysitting.

Had she been an hour earlier she may have saved a life. At the beginning of the bridge displayed for the world to see was the dead body of Tazuna. He had obviously been impaled on a sword, which was the thing that held him to the wooden post that stood marking his death.

Lying in wait for her was a mob of hired mercenaries; they no doubt planed a similar fate for her.

"Step no further or you will meet the same fate as the bridge builder," declared one of the braver men. Max snorted, hired thugs were so predictable. Rem also snorted, the death god had seen Max take on more skilled people, this would be a walk in the park. These thugs weren't the most organised people in the world.

"You would stand in the way of the Angel of Darkness?" Said Max with a calmness that was unnerving, a few of them stepped back in uncertainty.

"You're just a girl," sneered one of them, he swished his blade menacingly.

"True, do you want to put that to the test though?" Max grabbed the scythe from her back. She had defiantly grown since she had started using it, it was almost fully hidden from sight on her back, only the tip of the blade showed. She spun it expertly around her hand before sinking the tip into the ground in front of her. She gazed at the mob in front of her waiting for their move.

"She has the scythe," trembled one of the ones who had stepped back.

"You made a huge mistake when you killed my friend, now I shall repay the favour. Shame I don't know who did the deed so I'll have to kill all of you to be sure" Max said in the same eerily calm voice as she pulled her scythe from the ground with an audible thunk.

"I thought you were going to kill us, too chicken are you?"

"I was giving you the option of leaving, but since you aren't going to take it…" Max said tauntingly. She drew back her scythe as it to sweep it. Instead of carrying through with the motion she directed the momentum down but instead of sinking into the ground again, it bent the ground. A ripple emanated from the point heading for the thugs. The ground split and darkness radiated from the chasms, reaching for the group. Some stepped back in fear others in uncertainly. None of them escaped as they were dragged in.

"Death comes to those who are stupid" Max chuckled to herself, to her nothing had changed. When she had gazed at them she had drawn their attention from her hands which had formed hand seals for one of her genjutsus. Taking out her scythe from the ground had activated it. In front of her the thugs had crumpled to the ground, some dead others barely hanging on. Cause of death was either heart attack or kunai she threw to make sure they had died. Rem had helped some of them in an attempt to gain some more years.

Max walked over the dead bodies and took down the bridge builder, she would take him to his house so his family could bury him. She met little resistance on the way. As she approached the house something felt off. There were more than the two people in there that she had been expecting. She was dealing with a potential hostage situation. For previous visits she knew the walls were paper thin and it would be impossible to talk Rem into killing the hostage takers without raising attention.

She crept up to a window and peered inside. As she suspected both Inari and his mother were tied up, they didn't look more than a bit dishevelled.

A kunai hit the wood next to her head warning her she had been spotted. She disappeared from view as she relocated. It was too late though, the occupants of the house had been informed of her being around.

"I know you're there, come inside unarmed with you hands apart and I might let these two go" called a voice from the main room. Max found so many loopholes in that sentence. She was considering resigning as a ninja until there were smarter baddies.

"What's in it for me?"

"I don't kill the woman or kid"

"And if I don't believe you?"

"Do you have a choice?"

"Sometimes. You don't though" the man didn't have time to interpret her words when Max swung into the room and pinned the speaker person to a wall with a kunai to his throat her other arm was above his head as she leaned in menacingly. There were two other thugs in the room each with their own blades to Inari and his mother's throats.

"Ah, Maxine Hakie I believe"

"I'm really sorry but I don't know your name, but then again I didn't know the names of the men on the bridge before I killed them" smirked Max.

"My name is of no importance to you…"

"True"

"… But in a few months my name will be know everywhere"

"I doubt that"

"You think I'm just another power hungry thug, don't you?"

"I don't have a reason to disbelieve it"

"I did my research, I knew you would be sent, I know the background of this family, the reason the boy was never allowed to become a ninja"

"Big deal, it's happened before, besides I can kill you right here right now with you lackeys with a few words but no movement"

"I'd like to see you try, no one has that kind of power"

"_Rem? You want some life? I know that Ryuk likes apples, is their anything you like?_" Max asked in English so not to clue in her enemy.

"Sure, a couple of apples would be great" Said Rem, she took out her death note and wrote down the names.

"What did you just say?" asked the thugs, eyes wide.

"I just called upon the forces that you couldn't even dream of"

"Well if I'm going I'm taking the boy too" said the main thug with desperation in his voice, he took a knife and scratched the boy's arm, the gash wasn't deep but it was long. Ten second later the thug dropped dead followed by the others.

"They're dead" Max confirmed, she went over to the hostages and untied them.

"And Inari will be too soon, he had a blood disease. His blood won't clot if he gets a cut, something like this will kill him"

"Fecking hell, first Tazuna and now this" grumbled Max, she wasn't good at healing of any sort, any medic nin would have this under control but Max was and assassin not a medic. The basics she knew was bandaging and stopping minor bleeding by hand, she didn't have the refined control for medical ninjutsu. She could apperate to Konoha but the medic nin would never get back in time, she hadn't yet figured out side along apparation yet.

"What happened to my father?"

"He's dead, I arrived too late. Concentrate on helping Inari. Is their any sort of medicine in case this happens?"

"I used to but the last was used up and we never got around to getting more"

"Where from?"

"Port city, it was imported from Kiri"

"Hold on, I'll try to get some, just keep pressure on the cut to slow the blood" Max was glad that she had been to port city before. With the destination in her mind she projected herself there and with a small crack she apperated.

She emerged from the alleyway and headed for a vendor from Kiri. Time was of the essence as she slipped between people with an ease that came with being a ninja. She got to the stall just as the owner was about to shut up.

"Hold on, wait, I need something immediately"

"Sorry Miss, I need to start back to Kiri to restock"

"I don't suppose you have something for a blood clotting disease left"

"I might… I'm sorry Miss but I have to go now"

"Someone's life is on the line and you're worried about having to go and get more supplies"

"Look kid, I don't have time for this"

"Compared to the kid I'm trying to save you have all the time in the world" Max snarled grabbing the shirt of the trader and lifting him so his feet were barley touching the ground. She was emitting an aura of malicious intent and many passersby were avoiding them.

"I'll just look for you Miss," squeaked the man. Max dropped him and let him regain his balance.

"You better not be wasting my time" Max growled, she could see the man shaking in fear and decided she should probably let up on him or he might get it wrong. The man was shaking in his shoes as he returned, Max noticed the absence of anything even remotely similar to a medicine.

"I don't have any"

"Is there anywhere else I can get some?"

"There's Kei but he won't be here 'till Tuesday" Max made a noise of annoyance and gave a final glare at the man before apparating back to land of the waves. She couldn't even go directly to Kiri, she hadn't been their before so didn't know any locations to apperate to.

In Port city, the man collapsed to the floor and wet patch growing around his pants.

In the house Max appeared scaring the remaining living occupants.

"I couldn't get any, is there anything else that might help?"

"This is the least of your worries, a group of thugs found him dead and are ransacking the town"

"Oh for the love of the flying green monkey, I'll be back as soon as I can, just stay with us Inari" Max said before jumping out of a window ready to do some serious killing.

"Hey Rem, you up for killing?"

"You're insane, you know that. But yes I'm up for it, and Ryuk thought his human was going to be fun to watch"

"Getting told I'm insane by a death god, that a new one," smirked Max, she headed for the market place. From her spot on top of the roof nearby she could see brutes tearing up the place. She henged into her Angel of Death garb and summoned a gun and shot it in the air, getting everyone's attention.

"Listen up people, you want payment, here I am. I have one of the largest bounties on my head in all of the elemental countries. It probably worth more than everything in this village put together," yelled Max, she was appealing to the greedy side of everyone, it had worked before and would hopefully work again. She could see the thugs considering it.

"And why would we do that, you have a reputation of being one of the most feared ninja in the countries" yelled a thug from below.

"I would save this village even if it meant my death." Max was lying, it didn't take a genius to figure it out but the thugs were only interested in the bounty. From the last time Max had looked at a bingo book her bounty had been quite high. They were being blinded by their greed, and it would be their downfall.

"That's very noble of you, why don't you come down here and make it easy"

"I never said I would make it easy" Max said, she disappeared from view creating clones ready to make her victory short and simple. She sent them out with a simple directive, 'seek and destroy all thugs'. With the amount of thugs she was against, anything more complicated would give her a migraine trying to control. Especially with the amount of civilians around she might accidentally hit.

"So, Rem, any particular type of apples?" asked Max conversationally as she watched her clones take out the thugs. She took random pot shots at some of them.

"The juicier the better. Don't you have a certain boy to be looking after?"

"Feck!" Max apperated back to the house in time to see Inari collapsing. By the looks of it he had tried to stand. She really wished she didn't get distracted so easily.

"Do you know how bad it is?" asked Max as she checked the pulse, it was still there, barley. The blood pressure was dangerously low. He was to far gone. Max grunted in exasperation, she knew the theory about medically jutsu, maybe she could try one. She put out her hands and concentrated, banishing all the thoughts she could, only one thing was in her head. She would save him, she had to, she couldn't let him die.

"He's almost gone isn't he?" asked Inari's mother, her eyes were filled with tears. Max looked up from her attempts. She didn't want to admit that she had failed but the blood flow had only marginally slowed, it wasn't fast enough. Max could feel his heart stop and his breathing cease.

"I am so sorry, I really am. He was a good kid but he was to far gone"

"You're lying!" Max sighed, the woman in front of her was going into denial, she had seen it to many times.

"What would I gain from lying to you?"

"You killed him!"

"Fecking hell, that makes how many people now? Tell me one thing what would I gain from killing him? Seriously give me one good thing"

"Get out of my house, you're no longer welcome her, you probably murdered my father too. Get out!" screeched the woman. Max sighed again and closed Inari's eyes before shushining away.

"So Rem, you want to go to Port City, they have a wide selection of apples from all over"

"Sure. You ok? You look upset"

"I'll be fine, ninja code number 25, a ninja shouldn't show emotion"

"But…"

"Leave it Rem. Its fine." Humans were so confusing sometimes.

Rem ended up with a wide selection of apples and was gorging herself on them as the walked back to Konoha. Max was munching on her own apple. She sincerely hoped the saying 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' was true. If it was she vowed to eat an apple everyday for the rest of her life. It took a day and a half to get back to the village. Most people wisely kept away from her, an upset ninja tended to be one of the most dangerous kinds.

It was half way though the first day when Rem had attempted another conversation.

"What's your relationship with the Itachi kid?" asked Rem curiously, she had observed their contact and it was different than any other contact Max had with others.

"None of your business"

"I was just curious, he seems special to you, I'm not familiar with too many human emotions though it is similar in some way to Misa's relationship with Light"

"I swear if you try to give me relationship advice bases on observations of Misa, I **will** find a way to kill you"

"Misa always was open about it"

"Rem, my advice for you would be to steer very clear of this subject"

Rem had sensibly kept quiet for the rest of the journey. Max would inform Team 7.5 about the events of the mission. They deserved to know.

Home didn't have much better news.

"Max its either you take a holiday or Psych eval. Your choice" at Hogwarts Max would have welcomed a holiday, after what had recently happened she wanted nothing more than to bury herself in missions with maybe a few days off.

"Some choice" Max muttered.

"What was that, you want the Psych eval?" asked Tsunade faking hearing problems.

"I'll take the holiday," grumbled Max.

"I thought you would, try to find somewhere where you don't have enemies, I don't want you to find an excuse to turn it into a mission"

"You find somewhere because I have no clue"

"How about Amestris?"

"I can't think of anyone I've pissed off there"

"Good, you have three weeks. Enjoy yourself, that an order"

"What can I say, I'm a workaholic" said Max before she shushined half way to the house. She would walk the rest of the way, all the apparating she had done and her attempted medical jutsu had taken a lot out of her. She just wanted to collapse on her bed and sleep for three weeks.

"Hey Max, you're back" squealed Hoshi. Max really wished the girl had come out of her shell when she wasn't around.

"No, I'm her ghost," said Max sarcastically.

"Ha, that was funny, I've got a good joke want to hear it"

"No"

"Hey can I ask you a question"

"No"

"Do you know if Sasuke's dating anyone?" asked Hoshi, she was practically bouncing. Max groaned, Sasuke really should be locked up, his fan girls were getting ridiculous.

"Yes"

"Really, who is it?" Hoshi looked almost sad.

"I meant yes I know the answer" Max said correcting any misconceptions the girl had.

"Can you tell me?"

"I can…."

"So is he??"

"I'm not at liberty to say"

"Come one, I'm your student," pleaded Hoshi. Max rolled her eyes, she doubted she would get to go without saying something.

"No you're not, I'm not a teacher, I'm more like a comrade if that"

"Do you have any advice for me then?"

"Yes, find someone else someone who has the emotional range of more than a teaspoon and actually knows your name"

"Hey! That insulting"

"Well done for noticing, if I had said that to Sakura she would have looked at me blankly"

"Do you have a crush on anyone?"

"Is there a point to this?"

"Yes, you're a 'comrade' and comrades give each other advice"

"If I tell you about Sasuke's relationship status will you leave me be"

"Yes"

"Last time I saw him he was single but he has someone in mind that isn't you. It could have changed in the last three days but I don't know" Hoshi squealed and ran off.

"That girl was weird," commented Rem.

"Tell me about it" Max muttered, she really hoped no one was watching her. She finally got home and collapsed onto her bed. It was just one thing after another these last few days.

--

See you in hopfully six or seven days for the next chapter. Reviews are always welcome.


	47. The reason Max doesn't take holidays

Okay, so it's been more than the six/seven days I had hoped for.

About the angsty last chapter, a mix of experimentation of genres and yeah, me feeling pissed off. Be glad this was written before last Friday. My school wants to change to 5 lesson days each an hour long and one 6th lesson a fortnight for sixth former of which I am. It was met with much booing from the sixth form, trying to sell it to us is like nailing jelly to the ceiling. Oh and I may actually need to turn up to my personal tutor. Good bye Thursday morning lie ins.

More death in this chapter but it isn't so sad

Some info you might need: Go'auld - A snake like parasite that can take over a humans body, the human would then be called a host and the parasite, a symbiote. The have a leader who tends to be referred to as a 'God'. A go'auld will have super human strength, perfect health and accelerated healing. They have the technology for space travel and use energy weapons. They are from the show Stargate SG1.

--

When Max had said she couldn't remember having any enemies in Amestris she had clearly forgotten some one. Or at least some things. The homunculi hadn't forgotten her. Lust and Gluttony had been lectured about the failure of the mission Max had interrupted. When they had seen the familiar glimpse of silver hair they had been ecstatic, they would get their revenge.

Max was just calmly walking down the street of Central minding her own business. She could tell someone was following her but if there was a confrontation Max had been threatened with D-ranks for a month. Rem was floating besides her looking around at the new place.

"That's weird..." Rem said looking at something puzzling in her eyes.

"What?"

"That man over there, he has no name or death date, I can see his face but no name" Max looked at the man that Rem pointed out, nothing she recognised.

Envy sighed in relief as Max moved on. It hadn't been hard to find the girl, how many silver haired girls could there be? But why out of everyone in the street had she been looking at him. The street wasn't crowded but it was far from empty. From his observations she was just an average girl who sometimes started talking to herself.

Max sighed, the first week of her holiday had been spent exploring, it was getting old, fast. Go to some place, wander around, go someplace else. There was no action or adventure, and no extreme sports so she couldn't try that either. The next two weeks had been more wandering around.

At least it was her last day, only one more day then she could get back to work.

"Max?"

"if this is going to be more about my relationships the I don't want to hear it"

"If you aren't going to use the death note why do you still have it?"

"I like my memories, I can't afford to have gaps"

"If you haven't used it then you should still have your memories"

"I don't want to take that chance. Do you not like me? Is that it, you don't want to have to deal with me" Max pouted.

"You're interesting to watch, I was just curious though"

"Hey even Death Gods need friends" smiled Max, she liked Rem, she was like a weird older sister who was naive about humans. By now both of them had reached a grassy clearing away from the busy streets. Perfect for the homunculi to strike.

Max flipped back in time to avoid being impaled on spear like fingers, she cursed her luck, she'd have D-ranks for sure.

"Long time no see," sneered Lust, she retracted her fingers for another jab.

"Shame really, why couldn't have it lasted?" Max sighed dramatically, dancing around the fingers. Rem was looking at the woman with the same confused look as earlier. She looked a bit perturbed when the fingers went through her spinal form.

"Max…"

"I'm kinda busy Rem" Max called out, thinking back she probably should have said that in a different language. She pulled a particularly difficult trick to avoid the spear/fingers. Gluttony burst from the tree line to join the fray.

"Aren't you too old for imaginary friends?" taunted the woman.

"Not when they aren't imaginary, hey Rem I don't suppose you could do me a favour…"

"That's the problem, they have no names like that person earlier"

"Sucks to be them" Max muttered, where was the person who had been following when he was needed. She knew it hadn't been a homunculus, homunculi didn't have that much chakra.

A third person emerged to join in. Max couldn't recognise it so assumed it to be the shape changer Envy.

"Three of the seven, not bad"

"How do you know who we are?" demanded the shape changer.

"Well educated guess my dear Envy" Max said smirking, the D-ranks might just be worth it, she couldn't remember the last time she pissed of someone who didn't have the name Dumbledore.

"How do you know my name?"

"Same way I know what you are" Even Rem was interested by now. Shame Max couldn't remember how to kill a homunculus, they would have died then and there. She knew they lived of the red stone like philosopher stones, which were like souls, which in turn were absorbed like dementors. They were glorified Dementors. How do you defeat a dementor?

Patronus charm, it wouldn't hurt to try. Max thought through her memories trying to find a good one, she remember the last time she had tried the charm.

Suddenly a memory surfaced, it wasn't long ago, just when she was in fifth year, after the game of truth and dare. The first time Itachi had kissed her. She immersed herself in the memory and drew her wand.

"Expecto Patronum" Max intoned pushing as much power into it in the hopes it would work. From the end of her wand a dark silver bunny with sharp teeth burst out. Max smiled a bit, everything seemed to slow down as the bunny looked around and sniffed the air.

"Itachi" she whispered as she stroked it, it was Itachi's first mask, the bunny nuzzled her hand for a few second before leaping toward the nearest homunculus. Lust, who was the nearest, raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me this isn't your imaginary friend," said Lust with contempt.

"It isn't. My 'imaginary friend' is a six foot death god" the silver bunny took another leap and bit into Lust's neck with its teeth.

"I thought you knew all about us, we don't die from ghostly bunny bites"

"So that's why you falling apart" the other homunculi paused in their attacks to see all of Lust's old wound come back into being, Lust fell to her knees and started choking up the red stones.

"What did you do to her? What is that thing? Who are you?"

"I did nothing, it was the bunny, the thing is a bunny and I'm me" smiled Max. The bunny finished with Lust and surveyed the other two, who were backing away nervously, Gluttony was looking sorrowful at Lust's remains. Max was trying hard to concentrate on directing the bunny, it was like trying to control half a dozen clones. She had to keep the memory in mind too.

The bunny wavered a bit as Max's concentration waned, then it flickered out of existence and Max fell to her knees, the patronus was very draining with only one memory and trying to fight at the same time.

"Looks like you've run out of juice" smirked Envy.

"Who say's I'm done, its not over 'till the fat lady sings" said Max as she got to her feet. She was not going to give in now. She did some quick hand signs to create some clones, she wouldn't have the power to create another patronus, let alone one for each clone so she would need to do some creative clone/Henge work.

What she had done was create a normal illusion clone, not a shadow one, inside the illusions she had made shadow clones and made them into replicas of her patronus. Each of her illusions said the charm and as if by magic the bunnies emerged.

Controlling bunny clones was hard work. Max knew she would have to get this to work soon or not at all. Luckily after the display her real patronus had done it was more than enough to get the two homunculi to turn tail and run.

Mere seconds later the Justus failed and Max collapsed to the floor again.

"Max?" Rem asked with concern. From what she had observed of this girl she didn't give up easily so must be really exhausted to be in this state.

"I'm fine Rem"

"You don't look it"

"I never look it… I am in so much trouble when I get back"

"The whole 'no confrontations' thing"

"…doom" Max groaned, she didn't really feel like moving.

"Maybe she won't find out"

"She knows all"

"Why don't you just not go back?"

"I don't run away from my problems, besides I would never become a missing nin just because I was sentenced to a moth of D-ranks, it'd kill me by embarrassment. Hey, could you do me a favour, something just occurred to me?"

"What?"

"Could you go back to the death god realm and check on Dumbledore, I have a feeling in my gut that he's up to no good"

"It could just have been the food here…"

"Please just check, I'll give you apples…"

"Fine" Rem flew up high before disappearing.

"I suppose I can head back now, my holiday is over, finally. Maybe I'll just lie here for a while or two"

Max's trip through the dessert wasn't too bad, the train ride _to_ the desert had been bad, a kid behind her had been sneezing all over the place and throwing tantrums. The train had been full so Max couldn't move somewhere else.

"Could you keep your germs to yourself?" Max snapped startling the boy and his mother.

"Why don't you move somewhere else?" asked the woman snarkily.

"Do you see another vacant seat? Nope, didn't think so. Would it kill him to cover his mouth instead of showering everyone with his germs? Fecking idiots"

"Humph, well if you're going to be rude about it"

"Fine, Please cover your mouth so I don't get ill," said Max in a mock polite way.

After Max had reported in she went straight home, she had a headache from the train even though it had been a day ago. The kid's cold might have infected her, she wasn't going to let the others know, she wanted missions, not to be holed up in bed.

Max sneezed for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. Her plan wasn't working well due to the cold. She cursed the kid.

"I don't have a cold, leave me alone," whined Max as she avoided the people trying to get her into bed to rest. Namely Laura and Louise.

"The sooner you rest the sooner you'll feel better"

"I don't need to rest, I've just had a week of holiday"

"Itachi, could you help instead of standing outside the door hoping to not get involved?" asked Laura, the door opened reluctantly.

"Do you have any sort of jutsu that would help? She's already thrown of the body bind spell but Justus are harder to dispel, especially your ones"

"No, don't help them, help me escape, I don't need to rest I'm in perfect health" Max kinda ruined it by sneezing again.

"Leave it to me," Itachi said to the two girls. As Max's partner her heath was part of his responsibly, besides she would do the same to him. They nodded and Laura left the room to get something. Itachi moved over to Max. He got close enough and whispered something in her ear.

He had been the one following her, he knew she had gotten into a fight on the last day. Now he was blackmailing her with it. D-ranks or bed rest. Bed rest, Tsunade would put her on bed rest anyway.

"I really hate you," said Max as she grudgingly flopped onto her bed. Laura returned with a bottle of something that didn't look like alcohol to Max.

"No, you are not giving me medicine for it, cold medicine does not work well with me"

"Max" said Laura warningly.

"You can't make me"

"You're forgetting who else is in the room" smirked Laura. Max turned to Itachi with her eyes wide and pleading.

"I'm fine, I'll survive it. I really don't like cold medicine please don't make me have some" only Itachi noticed a small ripple in Max's form. This was a clone. it was no longer sneezing or looking that ill.

"Oh, this could be interesting," Mused Itachi smirking. The two girls looked at him

"What?"

"Max left the building"

"But she's right th… she didn't!"

"She did." So began the great hunt of Maxine Hakie. Itachi headed straight for training ground 44. No civilian and barely any shinobi went there by choice, chanced were that Max would be there. The tower that stood at the centre looked like no one had seen it since the last exam.

In one of the rooms was Anko beating the crap out of a dummy. Itachi avoided that room and looked through the other ones.

"Looking for me?" asked a voice behind him, Itachi almost fell of the wall in surprise. Max was stood horizontally on the wall behind him. She sneezed and her concentration waivered causing her grip to slip and for her to fall. Itachi ran down the wall to catch her.

The wall under the topmost three levels was hard to stick to initially but if you ran down from the top then it was fine. It was so people could climb down but not up to attack.

"You should be getting some sleep," reprimanded Itachi as he caught her and jumped onto a nearby tree to right them both.

"I'm not ill" Max protested. She feebly attempted to escape but failed.

"Prove it"

"How about a spar? if I beat you then I'm obviously not ill""

"Unfortunately for you sparing is under one of those things ill people aren't allowed to do"

"What can I do to show I'm not ill?!"

"Take the medicine, it better to err on the side of caution"

"I hate you"

"That cut me real deep Max"

"Fine, I hate the damn kid who gave me this damn cold"

"So you admit you're ill"

"I'm going to kill that kid" Max muttered as they made their way back to Max's house. Laura and Louise were waiting with the familiar bottle. It took mere second for Max to fall asleep.

Two hours was all it took for things to go horribly wrong. With no knowledge of how it was happening, the village stood little chance. The only person who might have a clue was in a drugged up sleep with a bunged up nose and a sore throat.

Max opened her eyes blinking to get rid of the sleep. She reached for the glass of water that had been sat by her bed to get rid of her dry mouth. Her room was oddly empty, she had been expecting Laura or Louise here ready to dope her up again. She threw back the duvet and went over to the window. The streets were strangely empty of normal people.

When did Tsunade get Go'auld? Things weren't quite triggering with Max, the medicine had dulled her mind and her reflexes weren't much better. She figured a drink would do her good so she went to the kitchen.

"Hm, Caffeine or alcohol" Max wondered aloud. A grin split across her face.

"Both!" she exclaimed and grabbed a bottle of each and disappeared out of the door. Seconds later a group of Go'auld entered the room after hearing Max's exclamation.

Max headed out her back door, she would go see Tsunade and find out what was going on. She waited for a patrol to pass before slipping out. She hated cold medicine, it messed up her chakra control so she wouldn't be able to use most of her jutsus, she would have to use taijutsu if she had to.

"Halt, what are you doing in a restricted area?" 'Busted!' Max thought, she didn't even look back as she raced off. She dodged some other groups and noticed the lack of females around, she had seen men and plenty of them but no women, not even Kunoichi, things still weren't triggering in her mind.

If she had been in good heath she would have remembered Hathor from the TV program. She would also have remembered that Hathor had put all of the males under her control. She was alternating between drinking alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Maybe she would have a burst of drunken wisdom.

Max finally got to a hiding spot, the forest of Death was good for that much, only Anko really went there of free will. Rem picked that time to return.

"Max, Dumbledore has found the new Kira, he's trying to persuade him to kill you"

"Sweet"

"Max that's not good… you'll die… are you high?" Rem had seen the look before in people before, they had been high on something.

"No, I'm not high as a bird, I'm as high as the sky, but the sky's the limit so I couldn't go higher"

"Max, get out your death note and write down Dumbledore's name before he writes down yours"

"Yes sir" Max said seriously with a salute then she burst into giggles. She patted down her pocket looking for where she put it. Her pockets were empty.

"Aw, it's gone, probably at home feeding the pigeons"

"It's a book Max, they can't feed pigeons"

"Don't say that! You'll hurt its feelings" Rem sighed, trying to talk sense into Max at the moment was like trying to nail jelly to the ceiling.

"Go get it" Rem commanded.

"Sir, yes sir" Max said saluting again, she jumped out to the tower she had been hiding in and headed home. Rem was following to make sure she didn't get side tracked. Max finally got to her room and started looking for the scroll, she couldn't remember exactly where she had put it, every time she hid it, it was always some where different to confuse people.

"Some people are coming, you need to stop them from coming in here"

"On it boss" Max said, she withdrew a piece of card and wrote the word 'Pull' on it and stuck it oh the other side of her door.

"But doesn't that door open by pushing from that side?"

"Exactly"

"I don't think they're _that_ stupid, even if they are human"

"You'd be surprised." The soldiers outside tried to pull the door open, the only reason it wasn't pulled off its hinges was because it had been strengthened because of Max's habit of kicking it open and thus off its hinges.

"Your right, I take that back, humans are stupid," Rem said correcting her earlier statement.

"I resent that"

"Do you always get side tracked this easily?"

"Yes" Max dived under her bed and retrieved the scroll she had sealed the death note in. After she emerged she did a small victory dance before unsealing the thing.

"Now how should he die?" smirked the girl sadistically. Thinking for a second she put a pen to paper and wrote a tragic tale that boiled down to him tripping over his robes and falling down a ton of stairs. Then being shot by some police because they thought he was a paedophile due to the bright robes. The force of the bullets ejected him out of a nearby window into a rubbish bin that some hobo had set alight to keep warm. Rem was disturbed by the fact this came to Max easily.

Back on earth exactly the way Max had written it, Dumbledore's demise came into happening. His death was ruled as accidental and no one was really informed as no one could identify the remnants. Shame really.

"If your done rejoicing over an old mans death, you have other things to do" Rem said trying to get Max's attention and stop her from dancing around the room like a lunatic.

"Uh huh, wait what am I suppose to be doing?"

"Saving the village… I need an apple or five"

"Take some from the kitchen" Now Max should have known from earlier that when Rem has too many apples she ends up in a similar state to Max.

"We need a plan Watson, first we must find who is controlling these people and then we attack," for some reason Max had adopted an extremely British accent.

"We need to find the base of operations, where is the base in this village?"

"To the Tower!"

"Wait a second, ninjas are stealthy not loud" corrected Rem.

"Ok then. To the tower" Max whispered and leapt out of the window. The fate of the village rested in the arms of a girl who wasn't in her right mind due to a number of things and her friend the death god…

"I can't believe the towers so far a way, having no chakra sucks," moaned Max. Having to walk to the tower to avoid being spotted was time consuming and boring. She couldn't run because of the alcohol and cold medicine, at least the cold medicine was wearing off, the alcohol and caffeine were too. Due to the amounts she had regularly she had built up a high tolerance to the stuff.

Both girl and death god finally got near their destination only to find it crawling with the amour wearing soldiers.

"Shame I have no chakra, crispy fried snake wrapped in human then tin foil, sounds disgusting actually"

"So what's you plan?" asked Rem as they watched more guards walk passed their hiding place.

"Who said anything about a plan?"

--

As usual, please reveiw


	48. For the Village but at what cost

Food Science is officially awesome. Ok cooking and eating peas is boring but flicking them around is funny. And every time some one mentioned pea everyone would assume it was pee so the lesson was hilarious. I can't wait for the next lesson though. Tasting caffeine (in solution, pure caffeine is toxic) and other things like dilute citric acid and salt water. The directions are a bit dodgy though.

Not many chapters left of this part. The first chapter of part three is in the making.

-

Major angst warning, if I were you I'd grab a tissue of five. I don't know why I've been writing so much angst recently.

-

Max was perched on the roof of a building observing the go'auld posted around the tower. It was a shame the alcohol had worn off, it was an even bigger shame that the cold medicine hadn't. Long lasting meant long lasting.

"There are about four shinobi guarding a woman who keeps refereeing to herself as 'Hathor'," reported Rem as she drifted over to Max's spot where the girl was seemingly sunbathing with a martini in her hand.

"Which ones?"

"You aren't thinking of going up against them are you? You haven't regained the use of your chakra yet"

"I know, Laura used the long lasting stuff, it supposed to last 24 hours. I still have taijutsu but no plan"

"How come other villages don't use this stuff?"

"Laura 'created' it, it's a closely guarded secret, even I don't know it"

"Itachi, Sasuke, Kakashi and Shikamaru are guarding the woman, they seem to be the strongest and smartest of the people here" said Rem, Max was going to do something stupid, she knew it. But even if she stayed quiet then Max would still go in, at least she would know what she was up against.

"Ok normally I would be able to take them but no chakra means no plan, I can't even use my magic" Max pouted.

"What about 'slight of hand' kind of magic, like the street magicians"

"You've just given me an idea, Rem you're a genius" Max took out her Death note and tore out four pages and crumbled them into balls and tied them to four separate kunai.

"But won't they see me if the investigate the paper"

"Yup, then since you can't be killed by them I can sneak in the back in kill the leader person while there wondering who you are"

"That reminds me of something Ryuk told me Light did, what about once you've defeated Hathor?"

"I give up the death note then they can't see you and lose their memories of you. Then I reclaim the death note which I will have hidden somewhere I go often like my weapons pouch"

"Sometimes I really wonder where you get your ideas"

"You and me both." Max jumped up the roof to be level with the Hokage's office, as she had been told the four shinobi were. From her vantage point she could throw the kunai right in front of each of the ninjas with out it passing right in front of someone else first.

She took aim and threw, as expected the four shinobi were on hair triggers and caught them and looked wildly around to see who had thrown them. The second she had thrown, Max had jumped down a level and hidden herself. Rem was out side the window waiting for the shinobi to investigate the paper.

"What's written on the paper?" demanded a voice, it sounded like two people in a way and feminine.

"It's blank my Lady" Max had to stop herself from being sick. Hathor was going to die. Max moved to the other side of the building ready to jump in to kill Hathor.

"What's that out side the window? It's a ghoul or something" 'Bingo' Max vaulted into the room with her scythe ready to decapitate Hathor. Unfortunately she never made it, something made her freeze. Looking down she saw her shadow was connected to Shikamaru's.

"Well that idea failed. Any ideas Rem?" Max called to the 'Ghoul'. Rem shrugged.

"You dare try to kill your God?!" shrieked Hathor. Max's hands went for her ears as she sound seemed to pierce her eardrums.

"Hate to break it to you but I'm an atheist. Wait, I know death gods exist but they can be killed so they aren't immortal so does that mean they aren't gods… Anyway, I still don't believe in gods not that you are one anyway"

"You will pay for your insolence"

"You won't be the first to try, nor will you be the first to fail" smirked Max. If she had a bottle of alcohol every time someone said that to her she would never be sober again.

"I have the finest this village has to offer protecting me, do you really think you would succeed"

"You have the best males, there are many females better, like the leader of this village and myself"

"How are you still awake? My weapon put all the females to sleep and the men under my control"

"Well then, your weapon epically failed, just like your attempt at taking over this village"

"I have everyone under my control or unconscious"

"I get the feeling were going around in circles" Max summarised, she was getting a bit suspicious of this woman. The cold medicine wasn't helping.

"I doubt you're one of the best here or you would have noticed my guards moving in a position to kill you" Max looked around, so they were. Crap.

"I noticed, did you notice the fact I managed to get passed all of your other guards, what makes you think these four scare me"

"You're bluffing" accused the false god pompously.

"Do you really want to test out that theory? I could kill you if you're wrong"

"Then why haven't you?"

"Sometime it's better to wait for you enemy to tire before attacking" Hathor looked confused until a kunai whizzed passed her face due to something knocking it off course. In the slight confusion Max grabbed the pieces of Death note.

"Shikamaru's justu fell, I only took advantage of it" Max smirked sent a few more. Each missed as some sort of projectile moved it.

"Kill her," ordered Hathor. Max backed up against the wall as the four moved forward.

"Hey that a bit dramatic isn't it, don't be hasty" Max was just glad that Hathor hadn't specified how.

"What are you waiting for, kill her!"

"It would help if you indicated who 'her' was. 'Her' could be the name of the desk" supplied Max helpfully as she leapfrogged over the guys and out of a window. They heard a faint yell of "suckers".

Not long later Max was back at her base of operations. The tower was good for that much.

"So now that you failed, what's your plan?" asked Rem, floating around.

"I take my idea a step further" Max said, she put the death note in her pocket.

"I relinquish the death notes ownership" Rem nodded. Max collapsed on the floor her head spinning as every memory of the death note faded from her memory. When she woke she still could see Rem but had no memories of the death note.

"What just happened?"

"That's never happened before" Rem wondered, people couldn't normally see her without touching the death note.

"What hasn't happened before?" Max demanded, she could feel memories missing and her first reaction was to be suspicious of everything.

"In your pocket there should be a book that explains it," sighed Rem.

"Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't, that's the point, you should read the book and not trust what I say"

"Thanks, that _really_ helped" Max said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. None the less she still reflexively reached to her pocket. As her hand brushed over the book the memories flooded back and once again Max was graced with a painfully splitting headache.

"Why do I do these things to myself?" Max groaned. It was like a hangover and getting run over buy a truck thirty times.

"You're human"

"That was a rhetorical question"

"So what's your plan now?" asked Rem not wanting to go of on a tangent again.

"Rem, you should know this by now, I never have a plan" Max grinned as she leapt from the tower, tree leaping didn't take up any chakra if you got the technique right. It was the only thing she couldn't do drunk. Rem sighed, Max was good at being rash.

Max headed to the arena, the one where the third part of the chunin exams were held. On the way she had killed any go'auld in her path, she had taken the long route too, that went throughout the entire village. Not a single go'auld remained alive. That should get Hathor's attention.

"Ah, the girl wants to try again" Hathor mocked as Max stood in the centre of the arena. Hathor was in the Kage's box looking down, the four from earlier were still by her.

"Who says I'm going to fail this time?"

"Cocky aren't you. How about this, you prove to me you're the best in this village by fighting one of my people. If I win then you die, if you win I leave" Max was panicking, had it just been a fight with Hathor it would have been fine but against someone of her choice. She still didn't have her chakra control fully back, she might just be able to get some low level ones.

"That's a bit dramatic on my part. If I win, you leave forever, you win, and I leave forever"

"How about this, you win, I leave, I win, you become my faithful slave" 'Beats dying but do I want to become her slave if I lose' Max was desperately trying to find a way out of that. 'She didn't mention a time frame…'

"Deal, who will be representing you?" if it was a go'auld she would be fine, if it was a ninja; she would have to be creative but should be fine.

"The one called Itachi, he seems the male champion of this village, seeing as you killed all of my go'auld"

'Damn.' Max was defiantly panicking, though she hid it with an indifferent façade. Maybe if Hathor saw she wasn't worried she would pick some one else.

Itachi appeared opposite Max on the sparse field. No such luck. This was going to be a horribly one-sided battle without chakra on Max's side.

"You're going to hate yourself. Especially when I pound you into the ground" Max smirked, she withdrew two kunai, there was no way she was using the death note.

"I will beat you in the name of my goddess," declared Itachi. Max started to twitch. She idly wondered if they would remember this.

"I'm gonna puke" she groaned, this was wrong. She shouldn't be fighting her partner not for her life, not for the village.

"Start!" Announced Hathor seeing Max actually looking green around the gills, she wasn't going to play completely fair. She was a goddess after all, they didn't have to play fair.

Max had a seconds notice to duck when Itachi swung a fist at her, she hopped over the foot that had meant to trip her up.

"Tut tut, getting sloppy there Itachi," Max taunted, Itachi withdrew his own weapons and held them ready, they exchanged swipes, neither giving an inch in the close battle. Itachi managed a lucky blow and knocked Max's headband loose. Max knocked it away, it was obscuring her vision and she didn't have time to retie it. Music was throbbing through her mind. Battle music.

The battle grew more intense, it was only taijutsu but that was about to change. To Max everyone disappeared. Working on her other senses Max blocked the next few offensive attacks before cutting her arm to focus on reality not the illusions she was being fed.

"Shame on you, using a crappy genjutsu like that" Max mocked in a false mentor way. She grinned as she flipped around some projectiles. She set her movements to music in her mind.

The song playing: In her Eyes by Basshunter. The baseline was throbbing through her mind as she timed her moves to it. As the bass stopped for a few seconds Max moved to purely the rhythm, each move flowing into the next. The few spectators watched in awe at the grace she had.

Rem was floating behind Hathor watching the fight. From her observations, Max would not be please if the death god killed the boy she was fighting.

Things were starting to get more complicated for Max, Itachi had started to use jutsus. Normally she would be able to counter them… with chakra. Maybe she should have waited before confronting them. Too late now though.

The song in her head changed to: Dear Angel By April Sixth. This was at a less noticeable baseline allowing smoother movement but it had a decent pace. She performed some unusual moves to avoid the blades. She couldn't even unseal her scythe.

At least he didn't have Sharingan on then she hadn't a chance unless she pulled an ace out of her sleeve, she noticed the subtle irony of the short sleeved shirt she was wearing.

Max caught a glimpse of his eyes and swore, they were red with the swirly things. Her only hope had gone, she had no ace.

The fight drew on, each of her attacks were copied or blocked easily, she figured she was more likely to loose than win but there was that slim chance. That slim thread of hope.

She still blamed that kid from the train. It was completely his fault.

Itachi locked his gaze with Max's own. She tried to look away when she noticed the final stage of Sharingan. She had not choice, it was too late. She didn't even have her headband to cover her eyes. Trying to keep her eyes closed was extremely difficult task, she got distracted easily.

"Mangekyo: Tsukuyomi." Those work stuck deep in Max, not what it was or what it did but who did it.

It was like her boggart. The technique she couldn't block, only avoid without chakra. The one she hoped never to experience after her third year of Hogwarts. The one being used by the person she could trust her life with and had on many occasions.

These facts cut deeply, the illusions were nothing compared to the pain of betrayal. The second she was released from the technique she fell to the ground limp and unmoving.

She had lost the will to keep fighting.

Only by the timely intervention of Haku who had just arrived back from a mission did she survive that encounter. Haku appeared by Hathor's side, Zabuza's huge sword gripped loosely in Haku's hand. A thin layer of blood covered part of it.

Hathor let out a gurgle before the top half of her body fell to the ground. Haku had sliced right through her chest, killing the symbiote and the host on one movement.

Noticing the scene on the ground Haku moved swiftly removing Max from the arena. Though Hathor was gone the toxin in the air remained. The only reason Haku was still aware of things was his bloodline. His bloodline had more to it that originally thought.

He could manipulate the water but he could also feel the other things in the air and water and manipulate them to a degree. On noticing the unusual thing he had stopped it from entering his system.

Haku had seen the many bodies in the weird amour and followed the trail which had led him to the arena to see the scene in front of him. He hadn't made it in time to stop the technique but he had stopped anything more.

He would have to wait for the toxin to get out of people systems before he could fully check the status of the village. It seemed Max had managed to take care of most of the invaders but he wouldn't know the full story until someone told him.

Talking about Max, he should probably check her for injuries, especially as she normally wouldn't stay still long enough otherwise. He took her back to her house and put her on the couch before running some tests. The only things he found wrong were some bruises and cuts and a nasty cold. It was possible why she hadn't been affected by the toxin, the cold had blocked her sinuses.

It took about four hours for the toxin to start to wear of on the ninjas and only because of the effect of chakra on the metabolism. Max hadn't so much as twitched in that time and Haku was worried. Max seemed to be in a semi-catatonic state and didn't look to be getting out of it any time soon.

It was another six hours for everyone to be back to normalcy. Tsunade had taken it upon herself to see exactly what was wrong with Max. It started with debriefing Haku.

The ninjas had been told to get rid of the bodies, they had careful instructions not to get near to them until they had been incinerated. Laura had a dead specimen to dissect and a dead host to also dissect, she wanted to know what had happened. She had also put in a request for Hathor's body but it was in a secret place for the time being.

As soon as the clear up was complete everyone was back to their normal jobs. The cover up had been someone's experimental jutsu gone wrong. Only a select few knew some of the truth. The only human who knew the entire truth was trying to forget.

News of Hathor's demise reached the SGC and they sighed in relief, on less 'God' to deal with, they had been on the receiving end of Hathor's toxin before but they had managed to get her to flee. In other news SGC was having a change in leadership, Dr Weir was stepping up to the plate. With her she would bring change, and someone else for Max to annoy.

The new civilian leader was having many different effects on the command of the SGC. When she got the folder about Konoha she had an idea. Whether it was good or bad would be up for debate later.

--

Reviews are always welcomed. By the end of this Part you'll hopefully understand why this is happening.


	49. Max's guide to dealing with problems

!Penultimate chapter!

There will be a third part and a fourth, and possible a fifth so do not keep asking about it.

Last week I spent about two days at school because of the snow so I had some time to write, when I wasn't attempting to hibernate anyway. The next chapter is going to be really long. Its already over 4000 words and I'm not that near to finishing it.

--

Max was cold. Not just physically cold, she felt like someone had frozen her very soul. She listened to her surroundings, the general chatter from the street carrying through her open window. She wanted to get away. Somewhere where she could forget the world she knew. Somewhere she could be at peace.

"Max, I know you're awake, you can't fool a death god" the familiar voice of the resident death god broke the calm.

"…"

"Max get up, you're strong enough to get past this. So get up and do something." Max hated to admit that Rem had a point. She stirred a bit, seeing how badly her muscles hurt. It had been a few days since she had moved last so her limbs were understandably stiff.

"You're actually taking my advice" Rem said, shocked. Max inclined her head and shrugged. She did a few stretched to get rid of most of the stiffness. She could feel her chakra and it comforted her. The door to Max's room opened and Laura looked in expecting to see Max still on her bed.

"You're awake!" Once again Max shrugged but was enveloped in a hug before she could escape.

"Tsunade wants to see you," Laura said not letting go. Max had scared all of them. Laura released Max and checked her over before deeming her fit to at least report in.

"You should go, Tsunade wants a full report ASAP." Max nodded and disappeared appearing in Tsunade's office.

"You're up" Max shrugged as if to say 'so it seems'. She didn't feel like talking at the moment. Tsunade knew that traumatised people often didn't want to talk.

"I expect a written report as soon as possible. The safety of this village was compromised and I need to know how and why" Max nodded and left. She appeared in the field by the memorial stone. She was lucky, no one was there. She would have peace for the moment. She took out a scroll and started to write. It was easier to write about it straight after it. Then she wouldn't have to drag up the memories later.

"I see you're awake" said a voice behind her, Kakashi was on time for one thing and one thing only. His visit to the memorial stone. That meant today was Thursday.

'So I've been told' Max signed using the ANBU hand code.

"Something wrong with your voice?"

'No'

"Want to talk about it?" Kakashi grinned.

'Har bleeding har' Max signed before adding a rude gesture for good measure.

"People are looking for you"

'Let them look' Max signed before going back to her report.

"Sure you don't want to talk…sign about it?" Max just waved him away. She wanted to get this done then forget about it. Kakashi nodded and headed towards the memorial stone to talk to it.

It took a good hour to get the report done. Max had stopped several times, not wanting to revisit the memories all too fresh in her mind.

"You want me to take it to Tsunade?" Kakashi offered, he had noticed her finish up. Max shook her head, she wanted to make sure no one else saw it if she could help it. She shushined directly into he office and went to place the scroll on Tsunade's desk but stopped short. Tsunade saw Max's hesitance.

"No one but myself will see the content of that scroll" she reassured the girl. Max dropped the scroll and with a respectful nod she shushined away. She would give Tsunade time to read it before requesting a long term mission.

"When do you plan on speaking?" asked Rem as they sat halfway between the tower in the forest of death and the surrounding fence. Max shrugged in response.

"You plan on leaving for a long time don't you?" Max didn't move, was she that predictable?

"I thought you said you don't run from your problems," said Rem staring Max in the eyes. Max had grown on Rem a lot and Rem wasn't about to let her throw in the towel without a fight.

"I'm not… I'm just… delaying when I have to solve it" Max said, her voice was a bit croaky.

"That's called running away"

"Ok! I'm running away, I can't take it any more, sometimes with people there's only so much they can handle. I've taken as much as I can, any more and I'll snap. So if that means I'm a coward then fine, I'm a coward," Max fumed. Lying to yourself only made you more susceptible to other's lies so she tried to avoid it.

It wasn't long before Haku found her. He still had the big blade of Zabuza's which meant one thing.

"Zabuza's dead isn't he?" Max said, Zabuza never let anyone use his sword except Haku but it never left his possession otherwise.

"Thank you for turning up when you did, you saved my life and the village." Haku nodded.

"I suppose you feel like me, you want to get away from everything don't you?" again Haku nodded.

"Get some rest" Haku advised before he left.

Half an hour later Max could sense someone approaching, by the feel of it it was a chunin.

"Maxine Hakie?" queried the man. He looked nervous about the forest.

"It's Max, what do you want?" The chunin shivered under the force of the glare Max was throwing him.

"Hokage-sama wants to see you." a distant howl made the chunin shiver a bit.

"Fine, you coming or do you want to make your own way back?" asked Max a bit more lightly, she shouldn't really scare the messenger.

"I'll come with you, safety in numbers." Max nodded and motioned for him to go first, then she could match his pace.

In her office, Tsunade looked at the papers in front of her, the report from Max was next to the paper and was open at a random section. She knew Max wanted to get away for a while and the papers in front of her gave the opportunity Max needed. She just needed to do a few things when Max turned up. Maybe sending a chunin into the forest of death was a bad idea.

"You wanted to see me Tsunade-sama"

"I have a proposal for you, I know what you're feeling and I have something that will help. Because I hold the title Hokage there is an opening for the third Sannin, as Orochimaru can't be stripped of the rank unless I do it formally. A Sannin has full travelling rights with out needing to return often to report in"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"The SGC has suggested a sort of exchange program, we send a shinobi or two to learn of their ways and they send some people to learn of ours, as a Sannin it would make the shinobi's life easier"

"You want me to…" Max didn't even finish. Her eyes were wide at the implications. Rem was confused, She didn't know what a Sannin was.

"You will be given the rank of Sannin, specialising in foreign techniques, you are the most knowledgeable about them and you also know their language. You will be accompanied by Haku. I expect you to return periodically when you can" Tsunade informed Max. Said girl was shocked. She didn't know what to say.

"When should I leave?" Except that.

"You have three days before you should head to the Stargate. The announcement of your promotion with be announced on that day just before you leave. You are required to attend"

"Yes Tsunade-sama" Max left to think things over. She ignored Rem's questions until she got back to her secluded place.

"Rem, be quiet. A Sannin is a shinobi on the same kind of level as a Kage, there can only be three. They excel in their chosen field and can travel anywhere; they don't wear any sign of their village so they can blend in. That answers your questions?" Rem nodded.

"So this is some big honour then"

"Huge"

"Shouldn't you be happy then?" asked Rem, most humans she had seen were happy to get a huge honour of any sort.

"Shouldn't I be happy… no, the price at which the promotion comes was high. The only reason I accept is because I can get away"

"What did Itachi do? I only saw you two look at each other then you collapsed"

"It doesn't matter, what's happened has happened. I can't change it"

"It's the reason you want to leave though"

"There are many reasons" Max said, she shushined to her room to pack, she had no idea when she would return so she only left things she wouldn't need what so ever. She sat at her desk and contemplated writing letters for her friend to find.

The presentation three days later meant celebration. By the time Tsunade had finished her speech Max and Haku were halfway to the Stargate. Max had left a shadow clone to receive the honour hoping Tsunade wouldn't rat her out and negate her head start. Then she could disappear without a trace, the real her would be to far away to find.

Things didn't go quite as smoothly as she had wanted, firstly she bumped into Deidara. Haku held back, this confrontation might be good for Max.

"Hey, where are you headed in such a hurry? And where's Itachi, I thought you were his partner" Max just shook her head and headed off Haku following her.

Secondly she stumbled over a group of rogue ninjas intent on invading Konoha.

They never survived long enough to wonder what hit them. Seriously though, there were about ten of them attempting to take over one of the strongest ninja villages.

At the beta site Max and Haku were checked over and sent through the gate. Both were dressed as ANBU, so no one would be able to confirm it was them. Max and Haku were gone.

After the ceremony Laura went to find Max to congratulate her. She was slightly annoyed that Max was no where to be found. When the others asked about her whereabouts things clicked.

She wasn't a FIN for nothing, she could put together a blank puzzle with ease. The travelling rights as a Sannin… she had done a runner. Max wouldn't have run without a reason though, something must have happened during the occupation. Only Tsunade would know the reason.

Itachi was worried, he had a right to be worried, he had come to the same conclusion as Laura. Why had Max left with out even a goodbye? It wasn't like her, but then again things hadn't been going right for her for a while. She had lasted beyond all expectations, most ANBU would have broken down before now.

Haku was observing Max as they both sat in the briefing room being told about what they would be doing. It seemed neither of them were paying too much attention. Max was staring into thin air. They were both in full ANBU uniform cloaks and all. They'd had to give their standard issue katanas in because they were the only visible weapons. Neither of them were going to go anywhere unarmed.

"Hello, you must be the representatives from Konoha, I'm Dr Elizabeth Weir, the person in charge of this program" introduced Dr Weir holding out her hand to be shaken. Max shook it, she wasn't about to get of on the wrong foot. Haku followed the example but more sceptically. On principle shinobi did not shake hands, there were too many ways to kill with just the shaking of hands.

"You may call me Wolf and this is Otter, I'm a Sannin and Otter is my travelling companion with the rank of Jounin but also a qualified Medical nin" Max introduced, Haku was still learning English.

"Excuse me for asking but what is a Sannin? And you both are dressed as a I believe the ANBU are"

"A Sannin is the rank equivalent to Kage but they are not leaders of the village, we're dressed as ANBU to preserve our identities for reasons that you do not need to know yet"

"Wolf as in Ookami? You're one of the people who oversaw the negotiations aren't you?" asked some one who had just entered the room. Max recognised him as Daniel Jackson, archaeologist and linguist.

"I am she"

"You're one of the two translators, you've also been on missions on earth to England I believe."

"Your point"

"Until you know your way around I'll assign someone to escort you two," said Dr Weir, she motioned for two men to enter.

"This is Captain Duke and First Lieutenant Westly, they have the clearance you will need to move around this base." Max was slightly weary of the fact they were both marines. But she supposed that Weir had though if she and Haku cause trouble then the would be on hand to stop them. Weir was wrong but at least had tried.

"Otter, go with Westly. I'll assume, that we have some freedom around here, you know, like showering, I mean Otters fine, he's a guy, but I'm a girl"

"My apologises, its hard to tell with those cloaks, I'll assign you someone else" Max was aware of the fact cloaks hid gender, that was part of the reason for them.

"Nah, unless of course he needs to follow me _everywhere_ then it'd be fine" Max said. She was testing her freedom here, if she was going to be followed everywhere then she might as well go home now.

"Then it's settled, they will show you to your rooms, your duties will be assigned tomorrow."

Max and Haku were led to two rooms next to each other, they were going to be here for a while. Max had her plans, it had always been her dream to have a road trip around America. It would need some subtly put words and hopefully she would be on her way, she doubted she'd be put on a team and what else was there to do. At least Vegas was off the list. Rem had gone to find Ryuk, see what was happening around with the new Kira.

"Uh, Wolf?" Max almost fell of the bed in surprise. She had been so deep in her thoughts and with people walking past all the time she hadn't noticed someone stop. She opened the door to see Captain Duke.

"Yes?"

"Uh, I just wanted to let you know that it's about supper time" Max nodded and got up, following the man to the mess hall. Something seemed familiar about him, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Wolf." The now familiar voice of Dr Weir stopped both Max and Captain Duke in their tracks.

"What? Can't you see this nice young man is showing me where I can eat?"

"I have a job for you, if your file is to be believed you don't like staying still long"

"Ok, stop making my job sound like prostituting. It's not. Ok… part of it could be but I failed that module" Max said, she remembered dong the seduction module at the academy, she had purposely failed it both times. It didn't mean she couldn't do it, its just she didn't want to.

"Do you want the job or not"

"What would I be doing other wise?" asked Max, who seemed to be contemplating it.

"Sitting around until we find a better job for you or until we can authorise you for gate travel"

"You're prostituting me out! You aren't my pimp! You don't even have a pimp cane!" Had the group been in an anime, the adults would have sweat dropped. Max smirked internally. Maybe she could do some persuading and see America.

"You're a weird kid"

"That's why I love my job, I'll go on the condition I can go on a road trip till I get authorised for gate travel"

"But that could take a while"

"Too bad. Duke, you coming? Or do I get to drive"

"Captain, if you don't mind… could you also teach her to drive?"

"Awesome, when do I start?"

"On your way to Washington DC , you're needed as Rho"

"How does every one know that name? What makes you think I'm Rho anyway?"

"Hm, 'specialising in Foreign Techniques' sounds like your file you also speak English and fit the rough description height and personality wise, we aren't idiots here"

"Sometimes you fool me" Max muttered.

"Since we know your identity you might as well take of your mask and cloak," suggested Weir. Max could understand the fact the cloaks and masks could creep people out but the need for anonymity until she moved on was necessary. She didn't want to be discovered so early on.

"You know one of my aliases, not my identity"

"Captain Duke, if you can deal with her I'll give you a bonus" Weir muttered, she couldn't see he smirk on Max's face.

"Suits me, so flying or driving," asked Max.

"Everything's in this file" Dr Weir purposely gave the file to the captain. He opened the first page and skimmed it with Max trying to look over at it. The reason he had been given it was it had Max's ANBU file from Tsunade, only people who directly dealt with Max would be able to see even bits of it.

Max sighed as she looked out of the window, they were above Virginia and almost at their destination it made her extremely glad. Military aeroplanes weren't built for comfort. Max had made a deal with Captain Duke, she wouldn't bug him and he wouldn't be all strict on her.

Since wearing a mask and full cloak tends to be suspicious Max had made a point of henging into someone. Ok, the someone was almost her normal appearance but no one else knew that. When ever she went through the Stargate she had a mask of some sort on.

"You're going to be working with a branch of the military called NCIS, stands for Nav…"

"I know what it stands for"

"They need help tracking a live feed, even their expert is having trouble. Their suspect is…."

"I don't want to know anything more, unless it's marked 'highly important'. I'm a teenager, ya'know, short attention span" Max said, she didn't like getting the details of missions, they waffled too much.

They came to land at an airport strip it was just north of Washington near Baltimore. There was a jeep and person ready to take them to the building. They showed their ID and were lead to the vehicle.

"Shotgun" Max yelled jumping into the front seat. Back seats had bad memories. Getting shot being the first.

"Um, Miss?"

"Just drive Petty Officer" said Duke, trying to explain why there was a girl wanting to ride shotgun was not worth the effort.

"So who did you piss off?" asked Max bluntly. The Duke in the back seat groaned.

"Excuse me?"

"I have a reputation for being 'difficult', they wouldn't send their best buddy"

"I took my superior officers daughter out on a date, only I didn't know at the time" Max and the Duke winced sympathetically.

The drive wasn't that far, not when Max fell asleep even through morning rush hour.

"Rho, we're here" Captain Duke ended up staring at the end of a blade when Max woke up.

"Never go anywhere with out a knife" Max explained shrugging, she always had a weapon she trusted on her. She slid it back into its hidden place.

"That's a good rule to live by," said someone getting out of the car next to them.

"Do you know where the director would be?"

"And you are?"

"Captain Luke Duke, Marine" Oh, that's why he seemed familiar. Luke and Bo Duke from 'Dukes of Hazzard'. He looked about ten years older than in the series.

"Petty Officer James Peters, Navy"

"Rho, Human being though sometimes associates with the Air Force and currently being pimped out her to help" the guy raised an eyebrow.

"You're the one supposed to help find our guy?"

"Apparently"

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs, you'll be working with my team" Gibbs led all but the seamen to the reception and they went through security. They ended up on a floor with several grouped sections

"Dinozzo! Where's McGee? I've got his little helper"

"Why does he have a girl with him?" Max tried not to be insulted by this but couldn't help but glare at him.

"That's none of your business, if someone would show me a computer then I can get on with my work" Dinozzo looked at her sceptically.

Back in Konoha, Laura was sitting at the kitchen table staring at a piece of paper in front of her. Next to the paper was a bottle of the finest Firewhiskey.

Max had written notes to her friends, she had left gifts with some, like the firewhiskey, even though it was to replace the bottle she had drunk before the third task.

"You got one too" Laura looked up to the window where Itachi was crouched. In his hand was a similar paper.

"I bet you it's got something to do with the invasion, she was the only one who remembers what happened. Tsunade won't let anyone near the mission report"

"So where'd she go?" asked Louise who walked in, she'd just finished her shift at the interrogation department to find a letter of her own.

"She could be anywhere, if she doesn't want to be found then she won't be. Now she's a Sannin she doesn't have to be found."

"I just hope she's safe, I just wish I knew what had happened" sighed Itachi. The other nodded in agreement. Itachi left the windowsill and headed to a training ground to re-read the letter.

_Itachi_

_No doubt you're wondering why I left you a note. I don't know why but I did. You deserve to know I don't plan to come back for a while. _

_I don't know the state of peoples memories of the invasion. I wish I didn't remember, it's the reason I left I want to get over the memories and seeing the place it happened would only bring them up again._

_You've probably noticed Haku is gone too. We have not, I repeat NOT eloped. He isn't my type but he has bad memories too. I also reckon Tsunade wanted a medically trained person with me._

_I don't want you to miss me, just remember me. I will be back one day, in the mean time move on, find someone who doesn't run around getting hurt and making you worry. Get a steady girlfriend. One who doesn't get drunk or behave recklessly._

_Look after Naruto and Sasuke. I never meant to leave them, they both still have issues and often need a kick up the backside._

_Make sure Kakashi doesn't blame himself, despite his confident personality he still isn't so secure since the ANBU days. This was ultimately my choice. I made it. _

_Saying goodbye normally means I won't see you again. This isn't 'goodbye', this is 'see you later'. You had better have some stories to tell when I return._

_Most of all don't blame yourself. If anyone's to blame then blame the dead body of Hathor._

_Love you_

_Max_

--

See you next time. Reviews are never turned away.


	50. A whole new world

!Final chapter! and a long one at that. I have coursework again so updates may vary.

Enjoy

--

It hadn't taken long to write the code for her tracking program. She had found the problem McGee had had when he had tried. The feed had been bounced of a satellite twice, so when he had tried to trace the feed it had gone in a circle. She had made sure her encryption code had been integrated and that in a few hours after it had found the location the program would decay anyway.

She didn't want other people using her program unless she knew about it. Besides if someone she didn't like got her hands on it then good bye secret code.

"You're done already?" asked Luke behind her.

"Yes, it just needs time to work. Is there any food place near by? I'm starved… Crap I forgot to eat again, why do I always end up missing food?"

"What would you want?"

"Don't know, a huge burger and a drink with the more caffeine the better"

"Hey someone who speaks my language" said a gothic woman behind both of them who had just walked in. Max recognised her as Abby.

"What language would that be?" asked Luke.

"Caffienese. The program is done, you just need to wait for a new window to open, it should have the source, good to ten metres radius, just don't expect to see the program for too long, it will disappear" said Max as she stood up and stretched.

"I understand," said Abby, she looked eager to look at the program. Max figured se would want to see if she could replicate it.

"I think I'm just going to put that on a USB pen at some point, typing it out every time gets boring" Max complained, Abby took a look at the screen and then at Max.

"You typed that up from scratch?"

"Yes which is why I need food, I'll be taking my leave now" Max said and left. Luke followed her, it was his job after all.

They were at a small diner when Max heard something she never wanted to hear again.

"We should eat at one of those commoner places" , Maybe it was someone else. Max glanced out of the window to see her hopes dashed the familiar group were standing outside. She quickly averted her eyes so not to draw attention to herself.

"Hey, look, it's Rho!" even worse, she had been spotted. Luke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hey! I use this disguise a lot" inwardly she was thanking her lucky stars she wasn't disguised as Mu.

"Do you think this place has a back door we can sneak out of?" Max whispered to Luke. Luke shook his head. Max sighed and waited for the host's to come over.

"Rho, what brings you to America?"

"Work"

"Have you seen Mu?" asked one of the twins.

"No." Max kept her head down and was about to take a bite from her super size burger when she was interrupted.

"It's rude to not look at someone who's talking to you"

"It's also rude to harass someone who hasn't eaten in about three days" Max growled. She inadvertently made the mistake of looking at them.

The host club were popular for a reason. Any girl with hormones would find them attractive. Max was no exception to the rule, the lack of missions had allowed her mind to wander on occasions and Louise's perverted mind had corrupted her own. Also the fact she was sober, not on a caffeine buzz and not disguised as a boy helped.

She felt a kick to her shins and was drawn back to reality. Luke had a smirk on his face. He remembered what it was like to be young.

"Rho, would you do us the honour of escorting us around this city after you have finished your meal"

"She has…" Luke started.

"Sure, that is ok with you Duke, isn't it?" asked Max innocently pouting.

"Well..."

"Great!" Max finished the burger quickly, somehow managing to make it look refined. She linked her arms with both twins and the group left the food place.

She deserved to have some fun. She just hoped that what ever normally pissed around with her life would give her a break.

It was about four in the morning Max got to her hotel room. Considering it was about midday she had left with the club she had spent quite a while away.

Outside her room stood Captain Duke, he didn't look impressed.

"What time do you call this?"

"If your were my parent I would consider telling you"

"What were you doing?" asked Luke, he could smell the alcohol on her but she wasn't actually acting drunk.

"Finding every single pub, bar or night club in about five mile radius of this building" said Max she pulled up a sleeve, on her arm were a load of scribbles. She had just invented a new pub crawl challenge. You went to each pub had a pint/ shot etc and got the barman and a random person of the opposite gender to sign your arm.

"You're under age!"

"You're forgetting something. I can change my appearance" smirked Max. Luke rolled his eyes.

"How many pubs" he asked dreading the answer. Max counted the signatures on her arm then halved the number taking a stupidly long time to figure it out.

"Seventeen"

"You're lying, you wouldn't be standing"

"Can I tell you a story? I was involved in a competition at one of the schools I went to. I turned up to the last one piss drunk. I had to drink twenty bottles to get half drunk, most of it was stuff like whiskey and vodka. I still won the thing"

"You're a strange kid"

"I know, it's what keeps things interesting" Luke figured he would have to wait for the whole story. It was obvious enough that she hadn't gotten into trouble so there was no harm.

Max's night had been pretty interesting. She had actually acted how normal kids her age acted, the host club had been amazed by the things they had done. Though none of them could legally drink, they still had fun between Max's pub stops.

She had made out with the twins, it was obvious that Haruhi was going out with Tamaki so he was out of bounds. Rho couldn't help but congratulate Haruhi on a good pick. The twins had tried to trick Max but even after a few drinks she could pick them apart. She had even managed to get them to do karaoke in one of the under age clubs. The twins had managed to get some American fans from their twin love thing.

Max now had a reputation with her panpipes. A fight had started out outside one of the pubs and Max had taken out her panpipes and started to play, layering genjutsu into it. They had calmed down pretty fast.

The morning… the later morning came too early for both of them. Max had a mild hang over and Luke was just tired.

"So where to next?" Max yawned heading over to the jeep they had been given for Max to learn to drive in.

"Up to you, you're going to be driving"

"I want to go to Atlanta" Max declared, she noticed an emotion flit across Luke's face but due to her hung over state she couldn't recognise it.

"Why? There's nothing interesting there"

"I don't know that for sure. So I want to check"

"Wouldn't you prefer to go to somewhere like Las Vegas? Everyone wants to go there" Luke was defiantly hiding something.

"Been there, got the bullet hole in my stomach as proof. I think the CSI's don't want me there anyway. I find too many dead bodies for them"

"Oh"

"Atlanta it is" Max said, getting into the drivers seat.

"Hold the phone, you don't know how to drive" Max knew something was up, he had just suggested she drive and now he was taking that back.

"Your point… I'm intelligent, I learn fast"

Half way to Georgia, Luke could help but think, 'She drives fast too'. Max was hurtling down the interstate at high speed weaving between the slower cars. Luke was amazed they hadn't been pulled over. Max knew they wouldn't, she had used a bit of magic to cast a notice-me-not charm on the jeep.

"I didn't think these things went this fast"

"I may have done something to change that" Max admitted sheepishly. Chakra enhanced petrol was definitely a good mix.

"Hey Luke, have you heard of a place called Hazzard?" Max asked as they filled up the tank at a stop.

"Yes." From his body language he didn't want to go there.

"Why don't you want to go there?"

"I didn't leave on good terms"

"So you should go back then leave on good terms" Max suggested brightly.

"Like you've done?" Luke said with a sour smirk.

"Hey that's not fair! I had a male controlling alien trying to invade. I was the only one who saw the entire thing and can still remember it, not that I want to" Max protested.

"You still don't want to go back"

"My choice, I left because I could, not because I felt I didn't have a choice, besides at my rank I have a right to go where I want. You just don't want to go back"

"Who are you? My psychologist"

"I might as well be, we're going to Hazzard even if I have to tie you up and dump you in the back" the look in Max's eyes said she was being serious. Luke sighed. If he was going to be forced to go then he might as well go back looking dignified and not tied up by a girl.

"Fine, but if I end up more hated then before I'm blaming you"

"Sure, it's not like I don't have enough things blamed on me." Luke wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or serious.

The trip to Hazzard was mostly in silence. The engine made the most noise. As they entered the county Max really let it rip. Until of course she was caught by a speed trap.

"Excuse me miss do you know how fast you were going" Luke couldn't believe Rosco was still sheriff. He stayed in Max's shadow so he wouldn't be seen.

"Yes but my speedometer doesn't go up that high," said Max.

"Licence and registration please" Max handed over both, she had received her licence at the petrol stop when Luke reckoned that she was a good enough driver. She would have to learn the rules of the road to a better degree but she had a basic understanding.

"I'm going to have to give you a speeding ticket for that"

"Be my guest." Rosco looked a bit surprised. Most people contested the ticket.

"Who's your companion?" asked Rosco, as he peered in the car.

"Some guy"

"Well I'll be… Luke Duke…"

"Excuse me sheriff, but I need to be going, I have important business" Max said smiling sweetly as she interrupted the man.

"Well little missy I need to have a few words with your passenger." Max had to restrain herself from maiming him for the 'little missy' comment.

"My business overrides yours so I bid you adieu" said Max as she put the jeep in gear and sped off. Rosco race to his own car and started a 'hot pursuit'.

It didn't take long to lose him. But that still left the problem of confrontation. She heard the unmistakable sound of the air horn first eleven bars of 'Dixie'. It was on the edge of her hearing range so she wasn't surprised that Luke didn't comment when she swerved in the direction of it.

Only one car in Hazzard had that horn.

Max drove like the bat out of hell, and stopped a few minutes a head of where she hoped it would go by. She did some tweaking her chakra made one of the jeeps tires blow. Being the gentleman he was Luke got out to see what was wrong with it. Max's phone rang and she saw the customary L, showing who was calling. She got out the jeep and made sure Luke was aware she was in a call.

"Rho, I need your and Mu's help"

"Big deal, I'm busy, the world does not revolve around you, Mu's only God knows where"

"This Kira's causing a load of trouble…"

"What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Seeing as Yuri isn't available she had said you were the one to ask"

"You've asked, I said no, I have other things to do"

A familiar orange car drove passed and stopped to help. As Max had hoped a blond guy got out via the window. Bo Duke. Max had to stop herself drooling. At the moment she hated her hormones. She was a ninja! Not some fan-girlish teen.

"Can I help you with something miss?" Max puzzled about him not mentioning Luke but then realised Luke was the other side of the jeep. L said something which she missed.

"I don't know, I'm not the one who's trying to fix it. He could probably use a hand though," suggested Max. She was acting like a weak girl so he wouldn't ask why she wasn't helping. She ignored her phone when L started to talk some more.

"Luke!" Max expected that yell, it was like music to her ears.

"Bo!" she had also expected that one. She could tell Luke suspected her of engineering this 'accidental' meeting.

"I thought this county was too small for the both of us?" Ok, she hadn't been expecting that. Max wandered over to the General Lee, she would give them some privacy to let them 'talk' about it. If it got violent she would step in.

"RHO!"

"Don't mind me, I'm just waiting for you two to calm down so the tire can get changed"

"You did this on purpose, you know about this, that's why you wanted to come here"

"So now I'm psychic… jeez, I wanted to come here because I wanted to. Hazzard sound like a place that I could find homelike. My whole life's been a hazard so why not?"

"You conniving little…"

"Hey, hold up, how would it be possible for me to know where he would be right now? I don't even know him. It would seem the person who screws with my life decided to screw with someone else's for once"

"You knew about this somehow" Luke accused. Max shrugged and hid a smirk.

"I didn't! Hey, do either of you two know who drives a white pickup truck?"

"Uncle Jesse" the cousins said in unison.

"Someone to talk sense into you two." Max pleaded. The pickup slowed to a stop and Max recognised Jesse from the series get out. She realised she still had the phone in her hand and the line was still open.

"_Hey, L, I can't really talk now I'm busy, call in a few days and I might consider your offer if I can remember it_" Max said and flipped the phone shut.

"Who were you talking to?" asked Luke. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her after all.

"My phone, my business. Why were you two arguing?" Max asked to prove her point about business being their own. She knew they had no intention of telling her. Max looked at her phone and supposed she should get the whole story on the latest Kira and leave the Duke to have their reunion in peace.

She didn't like reunions, they were too emotional. She may show more emotion than she should as a ninja but that didn't mean she felt all of them. She moved towards the field nearby staring at her phone. Who would have the latest on Kira other than L? She remembered the card she had been given ages ago as Mu.

She opened a different phone, the one she used as Mu and dialled the number. She only hoped that the Dukes wouldn't interrupt her and ask why her voice was about to get masculine.

"_Watari? It's Mu. Rho's just told me L needs help but she was in the middle of something and didn't get the whole story_" Max said, she was glad Haku wasn't around or he might thing she had multiple personalities. She did not need a Psych Eval. She listened as she got the story. She got out her own death note disguised as a diary and flicked to the page with the rules on.

'Only six death notes may be allowed to exist in the human world at any point' Bingo. She would just have to find Kira's then four more, then Death note's wouldn't be a problem. Now Max wished she hadn't destroyed Light's death note.

Ok maybe this goal wasn't so realistic. She would still collect them but there was no point hunting them. There might not even be six in the human world.

"Rho?" Max heard the Duke's call for her and almost swore, the line between her and Watari was still open.

"_Rho's in trouble again. I'll keep in touch_" Max said thinking quickly and snapped the phone shut.

"Why were you on the phone again?" asked Luke, it seemed he had gotten things straightened out with his family.

"Do I need to tell you my work is classified?"

"Who by?" Luke demanded.

"Myself, duh, I don't like people knowing every thing I do"

"I thought Rho worked for Yuri," said Bo. Yuri and her associates were well known around the major countries.

"I do most of the time but some work is freelance," said Max, it was mostly true.

"You're the one responsible for bringing Luke here?" said Jesse giving her a critical look.

"I drove here so… yep"

"Thank you, I'm glad my lost sheep can return so misunderstandings could be sorted out before they escalated," said Jesse shaking her hand. Luke looked at Max pointedly, her situation wasn't that different.

"My pleasure, I go by Rho but to anyone who I don't work with or for, I'm Max. Luke, if Dr Weir finds out about this I will know who told." Max dropped her Henge to her ANBU gear which she then removed the cloak and mask to reveal the same person with more scars and muscles with both of her tattoos visible. Her eyes had also gone back to normal, she had become accustom to keeping her eye colour just grey. It attracted less attention than her mismatched pair.

The Duke's in front of her looked at her in amazement. Luke was shocked that Max had used a Henge of herself as a disguise while the other two were amazed she could change her appearance like that.

"How did you do that? Change your appearance so fast" exclaimed Bo, his accent was much more noticeable than Luke's.

"Holographic technology" Max lied smoothly.

"How long are you around here for?" Max never got to answer that as her phone rang again and her eye started twitching.

"Sorry but I have to take my call's no matter how much I may not want to" Max apologised as she opened her 'Rho' phone hoping they hadn't noticed her switch phone. She moved away from the group again.

"Rho here, what do you want?" Max half arsedly demanded, she couldn't be bothered to answer in Japanese. If it turned out to be someone in Japanese then she would switch.

"Rho, have you seen the news about the meteor?" Oh, it was Weir. Joy.

"No, I'm currently in the middle of no where. I haven't seen a news paper since forever."

"We may have found the lost city of Atlantis, but a go'auld ship is heading toward earth not a meteor"

"I bet you haven't, you just found an outpost on earth, and besides how could you lose a city. What am I supposed to do about a ship? Jeez, I'm not a superhero. "

"How would you know if it was an outpost or not?"

"I'm not an idiot, besides Atlantis is supposedly an entire city, you couldn't hide a city as huge as it's told to be anywhere we haven't been"

"What about under a load of snow"

"Not a chance, do you have any other reason for calling, I do have work, which I might add _you_ sent me to do, to be getting on with"

"You'll have clearance for gate travel in two weeks, you have to be back at the mountain by then or it gets revoked"

"Sure, what ever, now leave me alone" the dialling tone was the only reply. Max walked back over to the Dukes.

"We've got two weeks before I need to be back at work, I might need to do work by phone but other than that we have a vacation." This was met with some cheering.

"So Max, you know how to drive?" asked Bo.

"Of course. I got my licence about two hours ago, wanna race?"

"Luke how about it? You an' me, like old times" Luke could only smirk as they both ran to the General Lee as Max headed for the jeep.

"Race to the Boars nest" Bo yelled. Max sighed, she was new to the area, she had no idea where it was. She could follow them though and overtake on the home stretch. She shifted the jeep into gear and followed the General who was already making tracks.

The General obviously had better suspension than in the series. When she had watched the series she had managed to point out every time something car crippling would happen. 'This is better than tree jumping' Max sighed as she accelerated over a broken bridge. The jeep she was driving was an old vehicle. It was planned to be scraped in a few months, the very reason why they had let Max learn to drive in it.

From her higher seating she could see just over the car in front and could see the road block ahead. The patrol cars were blocking the route. She watched as the orange car used the dip just before as a mini ramp launching them into the air over the cop cars. Max smirked and accelerated doing the same.

The return to the ground was a bit bumpy but it still left Max with an adrenaline rush. Something she hadn't felt for a while. She had to pay mind to the road though as the General veered of the road taking a cross-country route.

It took less than five minutes to get to the Boars nest. Max had failed in overtaking them. Short of jumping over them there was no way she would beat them with the way they were blocking her.

"Who taught you to drive?" asked Bo as he clambered out of the window, a huge grin plaster on his face.

"Thrown in the deep end, I got in and made it up with Luke yelling stuff when we were going down the interstate at over a hundred miles per hour. Story of my life really"

"And you didn't get caught speeding?"

"I'm extremely lucky." Part of Max's nindo was, 'When you can't rely on luck to give you advantages, make your own'.

Due to the fact Max was underage she wasn't allowed in the Boars nest so they invited her to the farm.

"It's not much but its home"

"Home it somewhere you can feel relaxed, no matter how big or small, it's precious and should be protected"

Max had only been there two days when the Dukes found trouble. The Bank had been robbed and they were all sitting in the general in pursuit. None of them mentioned the fact the robbers had fired at Max and she was currently sitting in the back stitching up the bullet hole in her arm. It had gone clean through luckily missing the bone.

"We need to get into that car. They aren't going to stop otherwise, they are too good at driving to fall for the tricks" said Bo looking at Luke.

"Don't worry about it, I'll do it" Max volunteered.

"You've just been shot"

"Not the first time probably won't be the last," said Max as she slid out of the window being mindful of her arm. She clambered on top of the car and waited for the cars to get near to each other.

Her phone rang causing her to swear. Before she missed her chance she jumped the gap and pulled out her phone

"What do you want?" Max seethed into the phone.

"Are you busy?"

"No, of course I'm not, I have just leapt from one moving car to another. Nor am I about to stop some robbers!" she yelled she closed the phone ending the call.

She was glad she was using chakra to stay gripped to the car roof. She slid over to the opposite side of the roof and swung in kicking the person in the back seat across the car, before he could grab it Max grabbed his gun and held it to the drivers head.

"Stop the car, try anything funny and I have absolutely nothing stopping me from pulling this trigger" Max said. The driver broke suddenly in the hopes of jogging Max's aim but she kept the aim steady using the headrest as anchorage the sudden acceleration had been expected but Max had over compensated and fired.

The shot smashed the driver side window showering both of them with blocks of glass, the driver had a line of blood across his nose, a small chunk taken out of it. All occupants of the car tried to regain there hearing, the driver was blinded by the shot and Max was trying to shove him out of the window.

Looking out of the window Max saw then rapidly approaching a tree and did the sensible thing. Dive out the window. The front of the car crumpled throwing its occupants forward. The windshield shattered as the driver was ejected by the force. The orange car drove up along side it and the Duke cousins quickly disarmed the robbers.

"Max! Are you ok?" asked Luke concernedly Max was his responsibility after all.

"I'm fine, when I say I've had worse I mean it probably could have gone better if I hadn't got a call in the middle of it"

"Who was it?"

"To be honest I don't know I should probably check, it could be important, so I should ignore them now and not later" Max said as she got out her phone and checked last received calls. The phoned the latest one and waited for the person to pick up.

"Rho?"

"No, I stole her phone when she fell of the car and died" Max said sarcastically into the phone. The Duke boys sniggered.

"I have a job for you, you need to go to a town and pick up something needed at the SGC"

"Ok, what part of 'no pimping me' out bypassed your head, send one of your less important people"

"I am…"

"I resent that"

"Let me finish, I am sending someone, you're just there to escort him and the item"

"Where do I have to go?" she sighed,

"Eureka"

Three days later saw Luke and Max were driving down a road that led to Eureka. Max had another TV show crossed off her mental list. What exactly was she going to do in a town full of geniuses? They were met by the local sheriff.

"What's your business in Eureka?" Sheriff Carter seemed out of place in the town.

"Job, I'm supposed to find and escort someone and something to Colorado" It had been decided that Luke would do the talking, Max really didn't want to grab anyone's attention by standing out.

"What about the girl?"

"Same job" Carter didn't look impressed.

"Look, you live in a town full of geniuses, is it so hard to believe?"

They ended up in the café.

"What would you like?"

"What is there?"

"Anything, you tell me and I can make it"

They ended up at Global Dynamics, the base of operations that they had to go to to find the person and object.

"Why is there a girl here?"

"That question got old at NCIS" Max muttered.

"Where here pick up and object and person to escort both to Cheyenne mountain"

"And you brought a teenager with you?" Luke actually had to try to stop Max from maiming the person in front of them. Nathan Stark himself.

"Do I have to repeat myself to every genius in this fecking town?" it took a few hours to complete their job but they managed.

What they both disliked was the road trip back to Colorado. The scientist; Rodney McKay, was the most arrogant man Luke had ever met. Max couldn't really say that due to her job.

She'd met many people more arrogant that the guy who was making her sit in the back. No of course she wasn't resentful about it. She didn't have plans to take over driving the second they took a break then drive madly the rest of the way. That would be irresponsible of her.

"Rho, you are not driving," said Luke stubbornly ignoring Max's pouting and puppy dog eyes.

"But…"

"Rho, you got your licence less than a week ago against my better judgement"

"A week ago? Why is she even here?" By now everyone was in the jeep and they were on the road again.

"Protection" Max could just imagine the look on his face, it was one she had seen many times before.

"How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen?"

"Sixteen. Seventeen soon." Max was so close to snapping at him.

"Great protection, a sixteen year old girl!"

"Stop over reacting! Jeez woman! I'm a genius in my own right" McKay's mouth fell open at Max's outburst.

"You really should put her down, her file's pretty impressive." Added Luke he wasn't about to get on Max's bad side, besides he'd read the file.

"Prove it" Max narrowed her eyes at the challenge. She put out her hand and snapped her fingers lighting up her hand with flames. The car swerved as Luke saw and panicked.

"Max, no smoking in government vehicles!"

"My bad" McKay was looking at her hand, which still was on fire, with amazement.

"How did…" McKay was flabbergasted, Max couldn't help but smirk at him she seemed to love taunting people.

"That you don't need to know" Max said in her most cryptic voice. Luke sighed Max was getting her own back for the whole stealing her seat. He just hoped he wouldn't be on the receiving end for not letting her drive.

"Rho, can you get on with him just for a bit or do you feel the need to taunt him all the time?" Max thought about it a sobering memory came to her, taunting got people hurt, something that wasn't good. Both Luke and McKay noticed the change in facial expression. Max closed her fist putting out the flames and sat back in her seat. She resorted to staring out of the window to amuse herself.

It took a few hours to get back to the SGC, the first thing the trio heard about was the Atlantis expedition.

"Rho, can you see me in my office at 1500?" Asked Dr Weir as they passed by on the way to find the mess hall.

"When I'm on base I'm Wolf or Ookami if you would prefer" Max said, Haku had been going to find Max and watched this take place. Something was up with Max, he could tell, Max hadn't snapped at her or even a sarcastic remark.

3pm came around pretty quickly and Max found herself waiting outside the office waiting to be summoned in. She was still distracted by the comment from the car journey.

"Wolf? Come in please" Max enter the office not knowing what to expect and currently not really caring.

"As you're no doubt aware there's going to be an expedition to hopefully the lost city of Atlantis" Weir began.

"You want me to go." Max had long ago realised she only was told about things if it somehow related to her being involved.

"While you were away, your village leader sent me your full file, I never would have thought that small folder was only a fraction of it. I believe you would be an invaluable help on this trip with you skills and track record. You would effectively be our Hail Mary so to speak. Unfortunately we have no idea if we will be able to return here, it could be a one way trip"

"Will Otter be coming too?" Weir had to stop herself from gapping, this child in front of her had just been told she may never be able to return home and she just asks if someone else is coming.

"He will be given the choice, I assume this means you will be going"

"I will be"

"A full briefing will be put in you quarters soon. Dismissed"

It was three days before everything was ready. Max and Haku were heading to the gate room. They were dressed in the uniforms they had been issued but still had their masks, they were planning to remove them a week after arriving. The colour scheme for their uniforms were black with white panels, both were wearing their ANBU gear underneath. They had their own things stored in scrolls to make things easier for themselves.

Colonel Sumner, the big honcho, had tried to check them for contraband items, like alcohol, but Max had out right refused stating if he wanted to see her personal items he would have to see Tsunade. She didn't want her alcohol confiscated, she had bottles from around the world. He wasn't too impressed about her presence there in general.

"Why's there a girl here?" asked Sumner with obvious distain in his voice.

"Hey buddy, I'm here to keep you lot out of danger. If something goes horribly wrong then I'm your Hail Mary" Max barely paid attention to anything else, she noticed Weir was giving a speech and tuned it out.

The gate begun its dialing sequence. As the connecting was formed and stayed a cheer rose up from amongst the group.

Max looked at the portal in front of her, another journey to a new place, this time she was flying solo. No team that she knew to back her up. Just an unlikely partner who was a healer not a fighter.

Haku gazed in wonder at the water like substance, he could tell it wasn't water; his bloodline told him so much. He glanced over at Max, she was giving up so much on what could be a one way trip. He had nothing really to lose, she had everything.

"First security team go." Max made sure her pack was on properly and started forward.

"Wait, we go together," said Dr Weir. The team waited for her to get on her bag properly.

"Let's go then." The first team went though the gate. Max being one of them, the second she emerged she checked for any sort of threat in the nearby vicinity. She knew from the series there wasn't but it was good to be cautious.

A new adventure in a new galaxy.

--

By the time you've read this I probably will have the first chapter of the next Part up

I will try my best to add stuff that happens in Konoha but the first chapter will just be Max


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